The House Committee on Oversight and Reform is calling on the NFL and the Washington Football Team to provide complete transparency on the league’s investigation of workplace misconduct in the team’s organization.
Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) renewed their request in a statement released Friday for documents related to the investigation, calling for the league to lift its nondisclosure agreement that prevents individuals from speaking out about team owner Dan Snyder and the club.
“While Commissioner Roger Goodell has told the press that victims and witnesses are free to take their story public, he should know many of them do not have that option,” Krishnamoorthi said in a statement.
“Dan Snyder, the owner of the Washington Football Team, has saddled them with gag orders, preventing them from coming forward due to fear of retaliation. If the NFL and the WFT are serious about addressing, among other things, sexual harassment within their organizations, they must allow these individuals to speak freely,” he added. “The NFL has committed to producing documents. We look forward to seeing them.”
Last month, Maloney and Krishnamoorthi sent a letter to NFL commissioner Goodell requesting the league provide information from its investigation into the Washington Football Team.
“The NFL on Thursday submitted responses to the questions in the Committee’s October 21 letter,” NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in a statement to The Hill. “As we have discussed with the Committee, we are in the process of identifying responsive documents while working through issues of privilege and anonymity promised to participants in the investigation.”
The league fined the Washington Football Team $10 million in July following its investigation, requiring the team executives to be trained in topics such as bullying and unconscious bias.
—Updated at 4:14 p.m.