Nov. 12 (UPI) — Former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden has filed a lawsuit against the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell in the wake of his private emails being leaked amid the league’s investigation into the Washington Football Team.
Gruden’s attorney, Adam Hosmer-Henner of McDonald Carano, said in a news release that the suit was officially filed Thursday in the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County, Nev.
“The complaint alleges that the defendants selectively leaked Gruden’s private correspondence to the Wall Street Journal and New York Times in order to harm Gruden’s reputation and force him out of his job,” Hosmer-Henner said Friday.
“There is no explanation or justification for why Gruden’s emails were the only ones made public out of the 650,000 emails collected in the NFL’s investigation of the Washington Football Team or for why the emails were held for months before being released in the middle of the Raiders’ season.”
The suit also says the NFL pressured the Raiders to cut ties with Gruden and “intimated that further documents would become public if Gruden was not fired.”
Gruden lost a sponsorship deal with footwear company Skechers and was removed from EA Sports’ Madden NFL 22 video game, according to the suit, as well as having future employment and endorsement opportunities damaged.
The 58-year-old Gruden is seeking unspecified damages on seven claims as well as punitive awards and attorneys’ fees.
In response to the lawsuit, NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said Gruden’s accusations are “entirely meritless” and the league “will vigorously defend against these claims.”
Gruden’s emails, which consisted of racist, anti-gay and misogynistic language, spanned a seven-year period beginning in 2011, when Gruden worked for ESPN as an analyst on Monday Night Football.
The Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 8 that Gruden used a racial trope to describe NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith in a 2011 email. Gruden apologized for the comment, then coached the Raiders two days later in a home loss to the Chicago Bears.
On Oct. 11, the New York Times reported additional offensive emails sent by Gruden, who resigned that evening. The coach said he didn’t want to be a distraction and “never meant to hurt anyone.”
Gruden’s private messages were discovered from a set of 650,000 emails that were included in the NFL’s probe into claims of workplace misconduct against the Washington Football Team. The emails were sent by Gruden to then-Washington president Bruce Allen and others.
Gruden has remained silent publicly since his resignation as head coach of the Raiders, who have posted a 2-1 record under interim coach Rich Bisaccia.
Gruden, who originally served as coach of the Raiders from 1998 to 2001 before guiding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title, was with ESPN from 2009-17. He returned to the Raiders franchise in 2018 on a 10-year contract worth $100 million.
Raiders owner Mark Davis said last month that he reached a settlement with Gruden over the final six-plus years of his pact. Davis didn’t reveal the terms of the settlement.