Four members of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleading squad accused a senior team executive of voyeurism in their locker room as they undressed during a 2015 event at AT&T Stadium, and the team paid a confidential settlement of $2.4 million.
After the incident, each of the women received more than $400,000. According to several people with knowledge of the situation, one of the cheerleaders claimed that she saw Richard Dalrymple standing behind a wall in the locker room with his phone in his hand. Dalrymple used a security key card to gain entry to the locked dressing room.
Dalrymple was accused by a lifelong Cowboys fan of taking upskirt photos of Charlotte Jones Anderson, a team senior vice president and the daughter of team owner Jerry Jones. The fan signed an affidavit saying he saw the alleged incident when he was watching the war room on the team's website.
A team source said Dalrymple told team officials he entered the cheerleaders locker room without knowing they were there. Multiple sources described the alleged incident to ESPN in different ways. Dalrymple issued a statement calling the allegations false.
Dalrymple said that people who know him, co-workers, the media and colleagues know who he is. The accusations are not true. Both were accidental and did not happen. Everything that was alleged was thoroughly investigated and I cooperated fully.
A Cowboys representative said the team thoroughly investigated both alleged incidents and found no wrongdoing by Dalrymple and no evidence that he took photos or video of the women. The team does not dispute that Dalrymple used his security key card to enter the cheerleaders locker room.
The investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing and the organization took the allegations very seriously.
According to a person familiar with the matter, Dalrymple was warned by the team in October 2015. A team source refused to give a copy of the warning or describe what it contained, citing privacy concerns. The team refused to give any information about when Dalrymple entered and left the dressing room.
Rich would have been terminated immediately if any wrongdoing had been found.
For nearly six years after the settlement, Dalrymple continued working for the Cowboys. He told The Dallas Morning News that he was retiring immediately. While Dalrymple thanked the team and the Jones family, no one on behalf of the team acknowledged his years of service, and his retirement was not mentioned on the team's website. His retirement came several weeks after he was contacted by attorneys involved in the settlement of the alleged incidents. Dalrymple said the allegations had nothing to do with his retirement from a long and fulfilling career, and he only found out about them after he retired.
The four women, three of their spouses and the Cowboys officials who signed the May 2016 settlement agreement did not speak publicly about their allegations.
The names of people who have reported allegations of sexual misconduct are not usually revealed by the sports network. The women didn't respond to inquiries or comment on the story.
A former cheerleader said it became known among a few fellow cheerleaders.
It hurt my heart because I know how much it affected the people who were involved. They made it go away.
The owner of the Cowboys saw Dillard as a member of the extended Jones family and had a long personal history with him. He was the team's high-profile fixer and was responsible for clarifying the owners' public statements. He was ordered by Bryant to fix the reporter after he got angry with him. A team source said that Dalrymple tried to get Jerry Jones into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Cowboys held their annual Kickoff luncheon at AT&T Stadium, the official start of the regular season that helps raise money for charity. The field was crowded with banquet tables. The Jones family, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin, and four Cowboys cheerleaders all attended the event.
The cheerleaders returned to their locker room shortly after noon to change their clothes and attend the luncheon after waving their pompoms.
According to sources, at least two security guards stand outside the cheerleaders dressing room when they are inside. Only one security guard was present. The dressing room was separated from the back door by a partial wall. The only way to open the door is with a security key card that Dalrymple had, according to the sources.
The women heard the door open. According to an account from multiple sources, the cheerleaders assumed it was a security guard who left immediately.
Several minutes later, one of the cheerleaders noticed a man and a black cellphone pointed in their direction. At the time, the women were going from fully clothed to completely unclothed, and a cheerleader later told a Cowboys HR official and the team's general counsel. According to multiple sources, the cheerleader who saw the cellphone was certain the man was taking photos or video of them.
The cheerleader, a veteran of several years on the team, immediately recognized Dalrymple, who she said dashed away, according to the letter. The other women didn't see the man.
The cheerleaders reported what happened to the security guard. The security guard wanted to report the incident to the police. If the cheerleaders allegations are substantiated, it could be a felony to secretly observe someone without their consent and a felony to take a photo or video of someone without their consent.
The police were not called because the cheerleaders wanted it to be properly investigated. The four cheerleaders were delayed by nearly 30 minutes. The director of the cheerleaders sat at a round table with other people, including several team sponsors, unaware of what had just happened. The cheerleaders were unable to answer the question honestly in that setting, and instead said they had been delayed, sources said.
A source said that after the luncheon, the cheerleaders huddled with Finglass, who suggested that the women report the incident to the Cowboys. The four cheerleaders wanted Dalrymple punished.
The investigation of the Cowboys began later that day. The cheerleaders, the security guard, and two other employees might have been witnesses, as human resources officials took statements by phone from them. Cohen obtained passwords for Dalrymple's phone and iCloud account after confriming his work-issued phone. Dalrymple admitted to Cohen that he used his security key card to enter the locker room. He denied using his phone to take pictures of women. The security guard did not tell team officials that he wanted to call the police. The security guard didn't respond to a lot of interview requests. Cohen sent a letter to Dalrymple ordering him to preserve any evidence related to the allegation.
It took eight days for team officials to meet with the women. A source said that the cheerleaders met individually with the chief of HR and Cohen in a conference room at Valley Ranch. The team officials told the women that they had interviewed Dalrymple at the Valley Ranch meetings.
One cheerleader said she saw Dalrymple with the cellphone sticking out from beyond a wall pointed at them. There was a bathroom across the hall from the dressing room. Cohen told the cheerleader that the team had searched Dalrymple's phone and hired a forensics firm to make sure no images had been deleted. Cohen was asked if the team looked into Dalrymple's personal phones. A team source said Dalrymple told the team he did not own a personal phone.
The woman said that it was a grievous offense, according to the notes.
According to the notes, Cohen told the cheerleader that Dalrymple was close to being fired and would be fired if anything like this happened.
Could he have lied to me? Cohen told the cheerleader, "Of course, I said to him, "Is this the phone you had yesterday and he said, "yes."
The notes said that the HR chief told the woman that the phone was thoroughly examined. There was no evidence of any videos, no evidence of anything that was sent out, and no evidence of photographs.
The notes show that team officials repeatedly assured that they were taking the allegation seriously. We don't want you to feel awkward at work.
The woman resources were offered by HR, according to the notes. Cohen offered to connect the cheerleader with a friend who is an attorney.
Two sources said that the cheerleaders and their lawyers were not told if the images from the security cameras at AT&T Stadium had been consulted or recorded. She said that the women were angry because they felt that team officials seemed to have concluded that Dalrymple had done nothing wrong before the cheerleaders were interviewed.
Multiple sources said that the cheerleaders were told not to tell their teammates what happened and not to go public with it.
According to sources, the women hired W. Kelly Puls, a Fort Worth attorney, to represent them in a possible lawsuit against the Cowboys. The cheerleaders were upset and were told to keep cheering.
Puls sent certified letters to top Cowboys executives, including Jerry Jones, demanding that all evidence be preserved, including Dalrymple's cellphone, security camera, and key card data.
The cheerleaders and their attorneys began looking for other evidence of Dalrymple's alleged misdeeds. One of them found a post on a Facebook page by a Shreveport, Louisiana, teacher and lifelong Cowboys fan named Randy Horton. He posted on a TV station's page that he had seen something strange while watching a live video feed from the Cowboys draft, as team officials celebrated their first-round selection ofByron Jones.
In case you haven't been made aware already, that guy Rich Dalrymple, who was sitting in the back corner of the war room last night, took upskirt pictures with his camera and Horton wrote to Charlotte Jones directly on Facebook. My wife and I were amazed. When you learned that you would be able to pick the Jones kid, you stood up and celebrated. I think Carolina was on the clock. Go check it out!
A team source said Charlotte Jones didn't see Horton's post.
Horton said that he saw Dalrymple hold his phone under Charlotte Jones and take photos.
Horton said he would never forget the first time he reached out from behind her and she stood with her back to him. He looked at the screen and touched it. He sat in a chair at the corner of the table on the left and held his phone under the table with the camera side facing up. And did it again.
I have no doubt that he was doing something. It was obvious.
Horton tried to take pictures on his laptop. He posted a message about what he had seen to the Facebook page for the local TV station and one of their reporters might want to look into it.
One person replied to the TV station and said he had seen what Horton saw.
The cheerleaders obtained a digital copy of the livestream from the legal team. A recording of the war room video was not available. A source wouldn't say if they have it.
Four months before the cheerleaders locker room allegation, the Cowboys were informed of the upskirt allegation. The source said that HR watched the video and found no wrongdoing by Dalrymple.
If Jerry Jones believed that someone had done something like that to a member of his family, that person would be fired immediately.
The war room allegation was raised in a letter to Cowboys lawyers by the cheerleaders. Dalrymple should have lost access to the dressing room because of hisvulgar propensities, according to the letter. The attorneys questioned why Dalrymple used the cheerleaders bathroom when there was a men's restroom 20 feet away.
Dalrymple hired a Dallas attorney to help with the investigation of the cheerleaders.
He would have grounds for a wrongful terminated claim if he were fired for this incident, according to a statement issued by Wilkinson. He did not respond to the request for an interview.
Dalrymple was reprimanded by the Cowboys in October of 2015. Sources said that the team revoked Dalrymple's access to the cheerleaders locker room.
The Cowboys made changes to their security around the cheerleaders locker room. They added cameras, signs, and communications to alert security staff when locker rooms were being used. The source said they made sure cheerleaders were aware of legal resources, employee assistance programs and an anonymous hotline.
In the weeks after the incident, the four cheerleaders were presented with a difficult choice: Go public with what had happened at a news conference or not speak about it.
There was a stalemate between the two legal teams for a long time.
Horton was surprised to be contacted by an attorney for the cheerleaders who met with him in a Shreveport casino. Horton swore to a three-page affidavit about the video. Sources said the lawyer for the cheerleaders returned to Dallas with an affidavit.
The women and the team executives were bound to keep their identities a secret. The agreement was signed by the four cheerleaders and their spouses. The Jones family and Dalrymple denied any wrongdoing and that the alleged voyeurism took place.
This Agreement is to be construed solely as a reflection of the Parties desire to facilitate a resolution of a disputed claim and all other potential claims between the Parties through the date this Agreement is executed, according to the settlement.
The agreement bars the cheerleaders from talking about the incident that happened in the war room.
A source denied that the settlement was spurred by Horton's affidavit.
In June of 2016 the team paid the cheerleaders, spouses and their lawyers a total of $1.8 million. The cheerleaders were paid a total of $249,523.37, with three law firms getting the rest. The Cowboys paid $600,000 over the course of the next year, with three cheerleaders getting $12,500 a month for a year and the fourth getting $150,000 after her final season.
One of the only exceptions for the cheerleaders to remain silent is if they were forced to respond to subpoena by federal, state or local regulatory authorities or governmental agencies.
More than 100 former cheerleaders and other former team employees were contacted by ESPN, but most of them declined to comment. Many did not respond to phone, email and text messages.
There was a provision in the settlement agreement for one of the cheerleaders to cheer in the fall and for another to work elsewhere in the organization. The two cheerleaders who were eligible to stay on the team did not do so.
The director of cheerleaders did not answer questions. The 2015 incident was immediately reported to HR and legal, who launched a full and immediate investigation. The security protocols for the DCC were further strengthened by the organization.
The cheerleaders are a vital part of the Dallas Cowboys family, and the organization wanted to go above and beyond to make sure they knew that their allegations had been thoroughly investigated.
Like other professional sports teams and American corporations, the Cowboys have a culture of often asking employees to sign nondisclosure agreements when striking settlements with former employees. Hundreds of women who have worked for the Cowboys as cheerleaders have signed non-disclosure agreements when they were former employees. A team source wouldn't say if the Cowboys would release the cheerleaders and their spouses from the non-disclosure agreement. A team source declined to say if Dalrymple asked the team to break his non-disclosure agreement.
A source said that the women are still upset six years later, and that the memory of the incident has not been forgotten. They saw it as a violation of their privacy and didn't report it.
The settlement was not made public until five months ago, when a former Cowboys executive tipped off Disney about the Dalrymple allegations. After the team was contacted by a lot of people, Wilkinson called a reporter and offered to answer questions.
Jerry Jones, Stephen, Jerry Jr., and Charlotte were among the people who were interviewed by the sports network. They didn't comment through Wilkinson. Carlos R. Cortez of Dallas and W. Kelly Puls of Dallas did not comment for this story.
The cheerleaders of the Cowboys are just as much a symbol of America's Team as the helmets are. Cheerleaders have been wearing the uniform. They have appeared in two made-for-TV movies and a documentary, and they are always on the sideline at Cowboys games and team events in the community. Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team is a popular reality TV show.
Revelations about the Cowboys come at a perilous time for the National Football League, on the heels of questions about workplace sexual harassment that emerged during the league's inquiry of the Washington Commanders.
Several members of Congress demanded the release of all 650,000 emails gathered during the NFL inquiry into the leak of misogynistic, racist and anti-gay emails sent by former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden to former Commanders president Bruce Allen. The Washington Post reported that the team owner tried to stop the investigation. Questions about the transparency of the inquiry into the Commanders, and the NFL's responses to Congress, have bedeviled commissioner Roger Goodell and other league and team executives all season.
Critics questioned why the league didn't release the report by the lawyer hired to investigate the Commanders. The documents released this month by the U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee show that the league may not be able to publicly release the findings of its investigation without the permission of the owner. A second document shows the Commanders requested a written investigation from the law firm they hired to conduct the probe. The law firm presented its findings to the league in ablutions.
The most influential owner of the league, Jerry Jones, was asked by Bob Costas if the league had become a liability, and he said no.
Jones said he would welcome the scrutiny of the Cowboys front office and its practices, even though he said he was satisfied with the NFL's inquiry. Social issues are a huge part of our lives.
Don Van Natta Jr. is a senior writer. He can be reached at Don.VanNatta@espn.com. His handle is on the social networking site. Greg Amante, Maya A. Jones, and John Mastroberardino contributed to the report.
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