Former Washington G.M. Scot McCloughan has filed a grievance against the team for the balance of his contract, and the in-house litigation is moving forward.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, McCloughan recently was questioned under oath by Washington lawyers. The deposition occurred during the organization’s bye week. It was part of the grievance’s discovery process, which is moving fairly quickly as part of the expedited, internal grievance process.
The parties already have exchanged documents that may be relevant to the case. Similar to the Colin Kaepernick collusion grievance, McCloughan and his representatives could swing the case his way by finding one or two key text messages or emails in what otherwise will be a mountain of evidence.
PFT also has learned that Commissioner Roger Goodell has designated Peter Harvey to serve as the hearing officer in the case. Harvey, the former New Jersey Attorney General, served on the four-person advisory panel in the Ezekiel Elliott case and participated in the conference call conducted in connection with the announcement of a six-game suspension.
Washington refused to pay McCloughan after firing him, claiming that it had just cause for doing so. It’s widely believed that Washington cited alcohol use in connection with the move.
McCloughan’s contract requires him to pursue any claims for breach of the agreement by filing a grievance with the league, which is hardly a fair and impartial forum in cases like this. But since front-office employees and coaches aren’t represented by a union and also hope to get those jobs, they happily sign away their right to take the case to an independent court.
After all, if they won’t, someone else will.