NFL Owner Paid More Than $1 Million In Hush Money To Avoid Sexual Assault Allegations
Dan Snyder.
June 22 2022, Published 10:17 a.m. ET
Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder paid a woman $1.6 million in a settlement over sexual assault allegations in 2009, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The Daily Mail reported that Snyder was accused of groping a female employee and attempting to take her clothes off on the team's private plane. The ex-employee agreed not to sue the team as part of the settlement, according to The Washington Post.
Dan Snyder.
The settlement was disclosed in court documents, the Daily Mail reported. The Washington Post obtained a letter by a team attorney that detailed the allegations, which the team said were not credible. According to the letter, Snyder denied the allegations and accused the woman of trying to extort him.
The allegations were revealed a day before a scheduled hearing by the United States House Committee on Oversight and Reform that is investigating the Commanders over possible workplace culture of harassment and abuse.
Dan Snyder.
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The letter, written by Howard Shapiro, of WilmerHale law firm, states that the woman was assaulted in a private area of the back of the plane as the club was heading home from a trip to Las Vegas in April 2009. According to the letter, none of the other passengers agreed with the woman's account, the Daily Mail reported.
The letter states that other witnesses said that back area of the plane was open for most of the flight and that flight attendants were often present in the area. Shapiro said the woman's allegations were "knowingly false" and several attempts to damage her credibility were made.
Dan Snyder.
Shapiro argued that the woman often wore revealing clothing and flirted with men during the trip.
Congress has been investigating the Commanders, formerly known as the Redskins, since October 2021, which resulted in a $10 million fine for Snyder. The June 22 hearing, which NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has agreed to attend, was scheduled to look into the team's workplace culture.
Washington, D.C. attorney Beth Wilkinson's firm found that the club's workplace was abusive to women, though the league declined to release a written report of the details of the investigation. Snyder has not agreed to testify before the House.