Through several weeks of reports and rumors regarding the extent to which two decades of dysfunction with the Washington Football Team crossed the line of sexual harassment, the man who served in a prominent role with the team hasn’t had his name mentioned much, if at all.
Former team president Bruce Allen’s name finally is surfacing, but in a different context. Per multiple sources, Allen pursued a claim against the team for failure to be paid following his termination after the 2019 season. As one source explained it, the matter already has been resolved.
The team declined comment on the matter.
Typically, coaches and executives with time left on their contracts when fired automatically receive their ongoing compensation. Sometimes, however, the team will slam the door on future payments, fashioning any and all plausible (and sometimes implausible) to justify not paying an employee who is not working any longer for the team.
Typically, claims made under contracts signed by coaches and executives contain a clause requiring any disputes to be submitted to the league office for resolution. It’s an inherent conflict of interest for the league office, given that the league office works for the teams, but if the coaches and executives want rare opportunities in a highly-competitive industry, they sign whatever they have to sign to get the job.
The resolution of the matter undoubtedly includes language preventing Allen from discussing publicly anything about the organization. However, Allen surely falls within the scope of employees whose nondisclosure agreements owner Daniel Snyder has committed to waiving for the purposes of cooperating with the ongoing investigation regarding sexual harassment in the Washington workplace.
Also, any NDAs will go out the window if/when Allen receives a subpoena to testify in any litigation filed by current or former employees seeking justice for whatever they experienced while working for the team. For example, Allen may have plenty of knowledge about the intended lawsuit over the outtakes created from the 2008 and 2010 videos documenting the making of the team’s cheerleader calendars.