Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder fined $60 million in sexual harassment, financial misconduct probe

Outgoing Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder has been levied with a staggering $60 million fine by the NFL after an independent investigation determined Snyder had sexually harassed a team employee and that executives under his leadership engaged in financial misconduct, the league announced Thursday.

The news comes on the same day Snyder’s fellow NFL owners unanimously approved his $6 billion sale of the franchise to a group led by Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris.

The independent investigation was led by Mary Jo White, a former chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Snyder “will pay $60 million to the league in resolution of Ms. White’s findings and all outstanding matters,” the NFL said in a news release.

White’s 23-page report determined that Snyder had sexually harassed former cheerleader and marketing employee Tiffani Johnston, who left the team in 2008, during and after a dinner at a Washington, D.C., restaurant in either 2005 or 2006.

“We spoke to Ms. Johnston several times and found her to be highly credible,” the report read. “Her account of the incident was also corroborated by other witnesses and evidence.”

The report also sustained claims from former employee Jason Friedman, who was with the team from 1996 through 2020, that the Commanders hid revenue from the NFL.

White and her investigators determined that the Commanders “improperly shielded” approximately $11 million that was supposed to have been shared with the NFL as part of its revenue-sharing requirements. The team also hid an additional undetermined amount of revenue from ticket, parking and licensing fees, the report found.

However, White’s investigation “was inconclusive” as to Snyder’s “personal participation” in hiding that revenue.  

“The conduct substantiated in Ms. White’s findings has no place in the NFL,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “We strive for workplaces that are safe, respectful and professional. What Ms. Johnston experienced is inappropriate and contrary to the NFL’s values.”

Since purchasing the Commanders in 1999, Snyder’s ownership tenure has been plagued with issues. Last year, the House Oversight and Reform Committee determined that he had interfered in a separate NFL investigation conducted by attorney Beth Wilkinson over allegations of sexual harassment by team executives.

The NFL in 2021 fined the team $10 million in response to Wilkinson’s report, which found that the franchise had maintained a toxic workplace culture. 

Lisa J. Banks and Debra S. Katz, attorneys who represent more than 40 former Commanders employees, including Johnston and Friedman, in a statement Thursday called White’s report “total vindication” for their clients.  

“While today is a day that has been long in coming for our clients – and clearly a day to celebrate their victory – we would be remiss in not asking why, after being repeatedly made aware of the numerous allegations against Mr. Snyder – through our clients’ testimony, the Beth Wilkinson investigation and a Congressional investigation – the NFL and Roger Goodell allowed him to retain ownership, buried the findings of its own investigation and most importantly, helped him hide and avoid accountability,” the attorneys said.

According to the NFL, White’s 17-month investigation involved interviews with “dozens of witnesses” and reviews of more than 10,000 documents.