Gruden: What The?

[AROS]

From The Athletic...

Jon Gruden’s Lawsuit: Yep, this is still ongoing​

Yesterday, a Nevada Supreme Court panel sided with the NFL against former Raiders coach Jon Gruden, reversing a district court’s order that denied the NFL’s motion to send Gruden’s complaint into its arbitration process.

Gruden, whose complaint alleges “Soviet-style character assassination,” can’t be happy that the decision will be made behind closed doors by commissioner Roger Goodell. Let’s take a step back.

What this is about: In the lawsuit, Gruden accused Goodell of leaking emails that included racist and homophobic content as part of a 2021 campaign to get Gruden fired. The NFL denied leaking the emails, while Gruden resigned under pressure that October and filed the lawsuit the following month. If you want to read Gruden’s complaint, you can find it here.

Gruden sent those emails in question to Washington’s then-president Bruce Allen, all while Gruden worked at ESPN. The league discovered the content while reviewing Allen’s emails during its investigation into the franchise’s workplace culture.

After Gruden filed the lawsuit, the NFL and Goodell tried to compel arbitration, based on the terms of Gruden’s employment agreement and the NFL Constitution.

What this means: Unless successfully appealed, Gruden’s case will not move forward in public nor in the legal system, instead settled in closed-door arbitration and decided by a defendant in the case, Goodell. Yes, a party to the dispute would rule on the dispute.

 

[Aircrew]

That's bullsh*t and a miscarriage of justice. Just goes to show that if you're being accused of a crime but you're worth billions of dollars, the "justice system" will nudge things in your favor. Such a shame.

 

[James in PA]

Someone snapped this picture of Gruden after the decision.

 

[Cyrus12]

What is the nfl worried about?

 

[pmedic920]

Dictator.

 

[hgwellz12]

I want to live in the "V for Vendetta" world.

 

[renofox]

NV has the most Corporate-friendly legal system/culture in the USA. I incorporated all my businesses there for that reason.

His lawyer, like 80%+ of currently practicing lawyers, is an idiot. The suit should have been filed in Federal court.

 

[knownone]

IIRC, the NV state courts were seen as more favorable to Gruden's case since Nevada has clearly defined laws on intentional interference, and local courts tend to be (and, in this case, were) more sympathetic to employees. I assume his lawyers tried forcing the case into a more public venue to get a bigger settlement.

The biggest issue for Gruden is that the NFL, much like every other major corporation, has every conceivable legal avenue covered by a labyrinthine sea of contracts. Judging by the information leaked about Gruden's contract, he could have definitive proof that the NFL did what he said, and he'd still likely be facing the same arbitration situation.

 

[RiverDog]

There's a difference in resigning and being fired. Gruden's defense seems to be "The Devil made me do it." I'm no lawyer, but unless he can show how he was forcibly coerced, ie blackmailed, threatened, or some other illegal means of compelling an action, I don't think his case goes anywhere.

I don't mean to drive this thread off topic, but I can see some similarities between Gruden's case and that of Chief Kicker Harrison Butker's recent controversial speech at a Catholic university graduation commencement. Both involved remarks that could be considered derogatory to a group of individuals.

 

[Madrid Hawk]

Every single day, everything that anyone says or does could be seen as derogatory to someone, if one is so inclined to seek out such content.

 

[sc85sis]

Butker’s comments were offensive and sexist (in my opinion, as a woman). He deserves the flak he’s getting, but I don’t see them as a fireable offense.

Gruden’s statements in emails were racist. He deserved what he got.

 

[OneLofaTatupu]

That's bullsh*t and a miscarriage of justice. Just goes to show that if you're being accused of a crime but you're worth billions of dollars, the "justice system" will nudge things in your favor. Such a shame.

Nudge, it doesn’t even look

 

[Chukarhawk]

Butker’s comments were offensive and sexist (in my opinion, as a woman). He deserves the flak he’s getting, but I don’t see them as a fireable offense.

Gruden’s statements in emails were racist. He deserved what he got.

What did he say that was so incredibly racist that necessitated destroying a man's whole career? Maybe I missed it but all I saw was a comment about someone having big lips. Was there something else?

 

[fenderbender123]

Isn't big lips considered a compliment? Where are we attaching the negative connotation?

 

[RiverDog]

What did he say that was so incredibly racist that necessitated destroying a man's whole career? Maybe I missed it but all I saw was a comment about someone having big lips. Was there something else?

He referred to the black head of the NFLPA (can't remember his name offhand) as having lips, and I'm paraphrasing, "as big as a set of Goodyear tires." That was probably the worst, but there was other racist, sexist, and homophobic language in the emails, like calling Michael Sams a queer, Goodell and then VP Biden "pussies", etc. He asked Bucs owner Bryan Glazer to perform oral sex on him.

I'm with @sc85sis on this one. Gruden got what he deserved. Some of the stuff he said in those emails would have gotten him kicked out of the majority of bars and cocktail lounges that I know of. It was incredibly stupid for him to commit them to writing.

 

[fenderbender123]

I have never used the word pussy as a reference to women. To me it refers to being frightened like a cat, lacking courage, etc.

Same thing with the word dick. It just means a jerk. It doesn't mean a penis. It isn't a slight against men.

I don't know how we got to this point where suddenly these terms are much more offensive than they used to be.

 

[evergreen]

It’s because everyone says the F word now. The old words that weren’t really cuss words are now the new F word! Cat woman even said pussy on TV.

 

[jeremiah]

Butker’s comments were offensive and sexist (in my opinion, as a woman). He deserves the flak he’s getting, but I don’t see them as a fireable offense.

Gruden’s statements in emails were racist. He deserved what he got.

Punishment for speech, how fascist of you. That is straight from 1984. The concept of Hate Speech. He didn't incite violence, he advocated for a better lifestyle from the past. Sorry, why have children if you are not going to stay home and raise them? Hire it done, that way you are free to live a life of empty physical things, instead of a loving home life. Who cares if society falls into the pit of despair.

 

[flv2]

Acting in a racist, misogynistic, and homophobic manner is bad enough. Blaming an organisation for exposing such behaviour isn't going to help Gruden in the court of public opinion. I'm surprised the Saints are working with him. F*** the Saints.

 

[Threedee]

He referred to the black head of the NFLPA (can't remember his name offhand) as having lips, and I'm paraphrasing, "as big as a set of Goodyear tires." That was probably the worst, but there was other racist, sexist, and homophobic language in the emails, like calling Michael Sams a queer, Goodell and then VP Biden "pussies", etc. He asked Bucs owner Bryan Glazer to perform oral sex on him.

I'm with @sc85sis on this one. Gruden got what he deserved. Some of the stuff he said in those emails would have gotten him kicked out of the majority of bars and cocktail lounges that I know of. It was incredibly stupid for him to commit them to writing.

Goodell is a pussy.