The NFL announced on Thursday that former Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder will pay $60 million to the league in resolution of the findings from former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White's investigation into the franchise and "all outstanding matters."
White's report said it sustained an allegation from former team marketing employee, Tiffani Johnston, of sexual harassment by Snyder, and an allegation from former VP of ticket sales and service, Jason Friedman, that the team deliberately underreported its shareable NFL revenues in violation of NFL policies.
"The conduct substantiated in Ms. White's findings has no place in the NFL," Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement on Thursday. "We strive for workplaces that are safe, respectful and professional. What Ms. Johnston experienced is inappropriate and contrary to the NFL's values."
The release of White's report came minutes after NFL owners voted unanimously to approve the sale of the Commanders franchise to a partnership led by Josh Harris for a league-record price of $6.05 billion.
Snyder and the Commanders had been subjects of a league investigation led by White concerning allegations of workplace misconduct and potential unlawful financial conduct. The league hired White in February 2022 to investigate allegations Johnston made against Snyder during a Congressional roundtable earlier that month.
Johnston alleged that Snyder "placed his hand on her thigh during a work-related dinner at a Washington, D.C., restaurant and pushed her towards the back seat of his limousine after the dinner in an unsuccessful effort to have her ride with him," per White's report. The league announced on Thursday that White's investigation sustained both allegations made by Johnston.
Additionally, White's investigation sustained a separate allegation by Johnston that a "former senior executive of the club improperly took and viewed an unedited calendar photograph" of her, but the report stated the "evidence was insufficient to show that Mr. Snyder was involved in this incident."
"I think the findings speak for themselves, we had an obligation to release those publicly, and we did, we shared those with the ownership today and had a full discussion of that," Goodell told reporters following the conclusion of Thursday's Special League Meeting. "The findings do speak for themselves in both cases, particularly with Ms. Johnston, it's inappropriate, it's wrong, and it doesn't match our values."
Separately, Friedman alleged to the House Oversight Committee in March 2022 that the team had "repeatedly and deliberately omitted NFL ticket sales revenue from reports that were sent to the league," per White's report, in an effort to retain revenue that should be shared with other teams.
White's investigation identified "approximately $11 million in revenues" that the team appeared to have "improperly shielded from sharing, to the extent required by NFL policies." White also identified in her report "additional ticket, parking, license, and other revenues that were transferred from an account that held shareable football-related revenues into non-shareable accounts."
The investigation, however, "neither found, nor ruled out" that Snyder "directed or personally participated in the improper shielding of revenues." It also did not find that Snyder "was aware of or participated in the failure to share revenues from security deposits" as required by the league.
Snyder and the Commanders previously had denied the allegations made by Johnston and Friedman in 2022. Snyder "reiterated his denials of Ms. Johnston's allegations of sexual harassment" when interviewed as part of White's investigation and "purported to have little knowledge or recollection of any substantive information relevant to the financial issues," according to the report.
The report also stated that Snyder "refused to be interviewed" for nearly a year, and "when he did finally agree to an interview, he declared that it would be limited to one hour."
White determined that Snyder and the club's failure to cooperate with the investigation contributed to an inability to determine the total amount of improperly shielded NFL revenue, and the extent of Snyder's knowledge and participation in improper revenue shielding practices.
