Spencer Hall and Sarah Spain criticize the NFL for refusing to release other emails from the Washington Football Team investigation. (2:24).
Why doesn't the NFL release all emails from the WFT probe? (2:24).
Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, was not interested in making the investigation public. The lawyers representing former employees of the Washington Football Team said that their clients requested anonymity and a written report.
Goodell stated in a Tuesday news conference that they had not released a written report on the almost year-long investigation into Dan Snyder and the organization. This was because many of those who were interviewed desired anonymity so no public report was issued.
Lisa Banks and Debra Katz wrote Goodell a two-page note stating that their clients, 40 women who were accused of sexual harassment at Washington State University, wanted protection. They demanded the release of the findings.
The letter stated that "While many people who came forward feared reprisal by Dan Snyder, so they requested their names kept confidential, but they never imagined that Beth Wilkinson's efforts would result in no written reports of findings and no accountability for Dan Snyder and the WFT." They wouldn't have agreed to participate if they had known.
Beth Wilkinson gave a verbal account to the NFL of her findings. During the investigation, 150 people were interviewed. Washington was fined $10 million by the NFL for its toxic workplace culture. Snyder stated at the time that Snyder would be taking a break from the day-to-day operation of the franchise to make way for his wife Tanya.
Banks and Katz stated that Goodell had "misrepresented our clients' wishes, and probably those of other women and men who came forward to support your decision to bury something we know would prove to be a damning investigation."
They urged Goodell once again to release the findings. They stated that once the findings are released, the public will be able to determine if the actions against the WFT were correct.
They wrote: "Your refusal to produce the results of the investigation, ignoring repeated pleas by those who put themselves in great danger to participate in the investigation, suggests strongly to me that it is not them you are determined protect."
