When this week started, the biggest news out of the NFL was that the Washington Redskins would no longer exist.
That is to say that the team would no longer be the Redskins, after a long-lobbied-for name change became a reality. The new name has yet to be announced, largely on account of the blitzkrieg of copyrighting that will need to be done before the moniker goes public.
But as the week wore on, another scandal erupted within the organization, and now we’re not so sure that the team behind the team will exist at all in the coming weeks.
The expected “bombshell” report from the Washington Post went public Thursday afternoon, and it centers around accusations by 15 Redskins female employees of sexual harassment and verbal abuse by former team employees. The full report can be read in the Washington Post, however, the story focuses upon “members of owner Dan Snyder’s inner circle.”
The article, headlined as “From dream job to nightmare,” tells the stories of allegations from more than a dozen women. Emily Applegate told the post, “She would meet a female co-worker in the bathroom during their lunch breaks, she said, to commiserate and cry about the frequent sexual harassment and verbal abuse they endured.”
“Applegate is one of 15 former female Redskins employees who told The Washington Post they were sexually harassed during their time at the club,” The Post Reports. “The other 14 women spoke on the condition of anonymity citing a fear of litigation, as some signed nondisclosure agreements with the team that threaten legal retribution if they speak negatively about the club. The team declined a request from The Post to release former female employees from these agreements so they could speak on the record without fear of legal reprisal. This story involved interviews with more than 40 current and former employees and a review of text messages and internal company documents.
The sleazy behavior was systemic in the organization, and permeated all the way through to the team’s radio announcer Larry Michael.
Michael is accused of routinely discussing the physical appearance of female colleagues in sexual and disparaging overtones, according to the report, as well as speaking about the attractiveness of a college-age intern on a “hot mic.” Santos is accused by both staff members and reporters covering the team because of, “making inappropriate remarks about their bodies and asking them if they were romantically interested in him.”
This is just the tip of the iceberg, it seems, and the next several days will likely provide a much clearer picture of the wickedness inherent within.
