Recently, the former head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, Jon Gruden, notched a huge legal victory. In the lawsuit he filed against the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled in his favor. This ruling comes more than a year after Gruden resigned from his position with the Raiders in November 2021. He had to resign after emails he’d sent containing racist, sexist and anti-gay language were made public.
Gruden’s lawsuit alleges that the NFL and Goodell were behind the leak of his emails. These emails were released publicly while he was still employed by ESPN as an on-air analyst. The Nevada Supreme Court’s decision, made with a 5-2 vote, found that forcing Gruden’s complaint into arbitration proceedings overseen by Goodell was “unconscionable.” This ruling challenges the NFL’s long-standing practice of resolving disputes through arbitration, particularly when the commissioner is involved as a named defendant.
The court emphasized that Gruden, as a former employee, should not be bound by an arbitration provision in the NFL Constitution. This provision had once been the focus of covenants of the same sort in Gruden’s doomed arguments. Justices Banks and Betancourt concurred, acknowledging that Gruden was aware of the arbitration process when he signed the Raiders’ employee contract. Yet they seemingly understood the obvious conflict of interest in letting Goodell arbitrate a case in which he’s a party.
In fact, Gruden last coached the Raiders in Oakland, from 1998-2001. Later, he would take the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl championship in 2003. He came out of the TV booth in 2018 to come back and coach the Raiders. Compounding matters, the Raiders’ relocation to Las Vegas was completed in 2020, making Gruden’s legal argument even trickier.
The Nevada Supreme Court’s decision puts Gruden’s lawsuit back on track. This ruling has the potential to serve as a precedent for any other employee who may have faced a similar arbitration clause in their employment contracts. Adam Hosmer-Henner, Gruden’s attorney, expressed satisfaction with the ruling, stating, “We’re very pleased with the Nevada Supreme Court’s decision, not just for Coach Gruden but for all employees facing an employer’s unfair arbitration process.”
He added, “This victory further vindicates Coach Gruden’s reputation, and it clears the way to swiftly bringing him full justice and holding the NFL accountable.”
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