Dan Snyder, the owner of the Washington Football Team, was investigated for allegedly rampant workplace misconduct. The team was fined $10 million by the NFL and Snyder then stepped from all organizational aspects. His wife assumed his responsibilities, which is akin to a puppet government put in place in a country such as the Philippines or Argentina back-in-the day.
Let us first establish that while $10 million is a huge sum to nearly all of us, as a multi-billionaire it is chump change to Snyder. He will quickly make that up in T-Shirt sales and draft beer. What is more, a large percentage of fans won’t care.
Protecting Snyder?
Goodell stated (in-part) at the time of the fine:
“I do think he’s been held accountable for it. I think the organization has been held accountable and I think we’ve given an unprecedented fine. Dan Snyder has not been involved with the organization now for almost four months.”
The lawyer representing 40 former employees, Lisa Banks, called the fine “a slap in the face for her clients.” As we are exploring this issue from an ethical point of view that is balanced, we must also understand that the more Lisa Banks makes for her clients, the more she stands to benefit as well.
The lead investigator has presented her findings behind closed doors to protect the anonymity of the defendants. Said Goodell (in part):
“We are very cautious of making sure that we’re protecting those who came forward. They were incredibly brave, incredibly open and we respect the pain that they probably went through all over again to come forward, so that was a very high priority for us.”
The camps are admittedly split. Some feel the league did the right thing, while others view Goodell’s statement as the height of pandering. In any case, Snyder walks away with a $10 million fine, the matter is closed, the defendants are angry, and football continues.
Who Speaks for the Other Teams?
If you search for sexual harassment claims against the various NFL franchises, a disturbing pattern emerges. Virtually every team has had accusations of sexual harassment, both on the player and coach side, as well as in the office. If the law profession wanted to pick up some easy money, it seems they could go to the front office of nearly any organization and find it. To say that the NFL is free of sexual harassment and gender issues, would be an ethical fallacy. Perhaps this type of boorish behavior was acceptable in 1960, but in 2021 it is absolutely unacceptable.
On the other hand, if training in matters such as gender discrimination, sexual harassment and LGBQ+ issues are not professionally offered – and reinforced, what is it that the NFL expects?
I would go even further in this ethical matter by saying that many athletes and their coaches have a higher degree of exposure to quality training than executives within the organizations. If 40 women came forward in Washington, they didn’t do so as the result of an on-the-field incident, but as the result of an office party or demeaning conversation in a meeting or out and out harassment in the office on a daily basis.
Goodell and his minions often fail to understand that harassment in an organization can be culturally systemic. It is not just harassment or abuse of an athlete toward an on-air personality, but an improper conversation between the head of purchasing and someone in marketing or ticket sales.
Sexual harassment prevention within an NFL or any professional sports organization is far too often thought of as an on-air or on the field phenomenon. It is in the mechanics of the team structure itself; the day-to-day grind of a business operation that the cameras never see.
Without training, another team organization will soon see the lawsuits all over again.
