Dan Snyder.Photo:Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post via Getty Images
Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post via Getty Images
The $60 million fine was handed down at the same time Snyder, 58, sold the Washington football franchise for $6.05 billion, according tothe Associated Press, slightly less than 1% of the total sale price.Johnstontoldmembers of a House committee last year that Snyder had sexually harassed her at a networking dinner for the team when he inappropriately touched her thigh during the meal, and then later “aggressively pushed me towards his limo with his hand on my lower back, encouraging me to ride with him to my car.”
The former cheerleader-turned-marketing team member told the House committee that her direct boss had “strategically” sat her next to Snyder at the dinner “not for me to discuss business, but to allow him to place his hand on my thigh under the table.”
She described the post-dinner incident as “awkward, uncomfortable and physical.”
“The only reason Dan Snyder removed his hand from my back and stopped pushing me towards his limo was because his attorney intervened and said ‘Dan, Dan, this is a bad idea…a very bad idea Dan,’ “ Johnston said.
Dan Snyder.Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post via Getty Images
Johnston said the next day when she raised concerns about the incident to a “senior coworker” that the coworker told her she “should not repeat this story to anyone outside this office door.”
The allegations sparked a new investigation into Snyder, who has long been on the hot seat among other NFL owners and Washington football fans. He and the team have denied any wrongdoing, and did not cooperate with the NFL’s investigation,ABC Newsreported.
The NFL recruited former Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White and her law firm, Debevoise & Plimpton, to lead the independent investigation, which ultimately verified Johnston’s allegations against the former NFL executive.
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“The findings do speak for themselves,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said at a press conference in Minnesota following the sale of the team. “In both cases, it’s inappropriate, it’s wrong, it doesn’t match our values.”
In a statement, the NFL commissioner said Snyder’s conduct “has no place in the NFL” and that “what Ms. Johnston experienced is inappropriate and contrary to the NFL’s values."
Dan Snyder.Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Patrick Smith/Getty Images
The private investigators also looked into whether Snyder had aided another team executive in obtaining a photo of Johnston from a Washington cheerleaders photo shoot, which wasn’t yet edited “to fully cover inadvertent exposures,” according to the AP. However, the report said there was insufficient evidence to determine whether Snyder had played a role in the photo getting into the other executive’s hands.
source: people.com
