𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The Washington Commanders will pay $1 million to the District of Columbia as part of a settlement for a 2022 lawsuit that accused the team of violating the District’s consumer protection law during Daniel Snyder’s ownership, D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb announced on Monday.

The 2022 complaint — which was filed against Pro-Football, Inc., the corporate entity that owns the Commanders, as well as Snyder, the NFL and league commissioner Roger Goodell — accused the defendants of misleading D.C. consumers by failing to disclose information about an investigation led by attorney Beth Wilkinson into the team’s hostile workplace culture to sell more tickets and merchandise.

The complaint also alleged that Snyder created an environment with pervasive harassment and bullying, and that the Commanders, the NFL, Goodell and Snyder misled consumers about their knowledge of that environment.

The Commanders’ current ownership group, led by Josh Harris, purchased the team from Snyder in July 2023 for an NFL-record $6.05 billion.

“The Commanders’ current owners have commendably opened a new chapter in the team’s history, committing to ensure all employees are protected from abuse and treated with dignity,” Schwalb said in a news release. “Every business operating in the District has an obligation to provide honest information to its customers, and the Commanders’ loyal fanbase deserves no less. I want to thank the victims for coming forward to tell their stories — without their bravery, none of this would have come to light.”

Spokespeople for the Commanders and the NFL declined to comment.

The settlement concludes one of the last outstanding legal entanglements from Snyder’s 24-year ownership of the team.

During his final years as owner, he and the Commanders were the subjects of at least seven investigations or lawsuits led by the NFL, the federal government and attorneys general in D.C., Maryland and Virginia over their workplace culture and allegations of sexual misconduct and financial improprieties.

In a series of stories by The Washington Post published in 2020, multiple female former employees of the team during Snyder’s tenure detailed a workplace built on fear and harassment, including harassment by Snyder himself.

The team initiated an investigation by Wilkinson that the NFL later took over “so that the results are thorough, complete and trusted by the fans, the players, our employees and the public.”

The NFL announced the outcome of Wilkinson’s review in July 2021, but did not provide a detailed report of her findings. Rather, the league issued a news release that overviewed the investigation and its general outcome, and listed 10 recommendations by Wilkinson to repair the culture of Washington’s NFL franchise, then called the Washington Football Team.

It also noted that the team would pay $10 million, which would go to organizations committed to character education and to programs that improve workplaces for women.

Snyder stepped away from the day-to-day duties of running the team after earlier appointing his wife, Tanya Snyder, as co-CEO.

The lack of a full report by Wilkinson incited significant backlash that continued throughout the remainder of Snyder’s ownership, and drew the interest of the U.S House Committee on Oversight and Reform, which conducted its own investigation into the handling of the probe and the team’s workplace culture.

The committee found that Snyder and his legal team conducted a “shadow investigation” and compiled a “dossier” to target former employees and journalists and shift blame for pervasive workplace misconduct.

A second investigation overseen by the NFL and led by the former chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Jo White, found that the team withheld revenue it should have shared with other NFL franchises and that Snyder sexually harassed a former team employee. Snyder paid a $60 million fine as part of the sale of the franchise.

Separately, the attorneys general of D.C., Maryland and Virginia also launched investigations and reached settlements with the team over allegations that the team withheld deposits from season ticket holders during Snyder’s ownership. In addition to refunds for the deposits, Snyder paid approximately $1.4 million in fines for those earlier settlements.

Schwalb lauded Harris and his ownership group for “repeatedly and publicly committed to changing the culture” of the team since purchasing it in 2023.

As part of their settlement agreement, the team must maintain a human resources department, an anti-harassment policy and an investigation protocol for complaints of workplace misconduct.