(Reuters) – The National Football League has fined former Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder $60 million after an investigation into allegations of misconduct and financial improprieties, the league said on Thursday after approving his sale of the team.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell appointed former chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Mary Jo White as the independent investigator after allegations against Snyder made by former team employee Tiffani Johnston at a Congressional roundtable in 2022.
According to the NFL, White and her colleagues conducted a comprehensive independent investigation over 17 months that included interviews with dozens of witnesses, sometimes on multiple occasions, a review of over 10,000 documents, and assistance from a team of forensic accountants.
“The conduct substantiated in Ms. White’s findings has no place in the NFL,” said Goodell. “We strive for workplaces that are safe, respectful and professional. What Ms. Johnston experienced is inappropriate and contrary to the NFL’s values.”
Snyder’s ownership of the club came under pressure amid investigations by the NFL and Congress into the team’s workplace culture and potential financial improprieties.
Johnston, a former cheerleader and marketing manager for the Commanders, told members of a House Oversight Committee that Snyder made sexual advances on her. Snyder has denied Johnston’s claims, calling them “outright lies.”
According to White’s report, she accepted the claim that Snyder, without consent, put his hand on Johnston’s thigh under a restaurant table at a work-related dinner.
White also said Johnston’s allegation that Snyder pushed her towards the back seat of his car in an effort to have her join him after the dinner is sustained.
The fine was announced shortly after the NFL said its owners unanimously approved the sale of the Commanders to a group led by the co-owner of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
