Former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden has filed a lawsuit against the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell, according to his attorney, claiming that Gruden’s emails were “selectively leaked” in order to “force him out of his job.”
Gruden’s attorney, Adam Hosmer-Henner of McDonald Carano, said in a statement that the lawsuit was filed in the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County, Nevada.
“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. “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.”
Gruden resigned as Raiders coach in October following the reports that he sent emails containing racist, misogynistic and anti-gay language.
The emails were uncovered as part of the NFL’s investigation into claims of workplace misconduct against the Washington Football Team. They were sent by Gruden, who was an ESPN analyst at the time, to then-Washington president Bruce Allen and others during a seven-year period that ended in 2018.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy called Gruden’s allegations “entirely meritless” and said the league “will vigorously defend against these claims.”