The attorneys general of California and New York are investigating the National Football League for employment discrimination and a hostile work environment, their offices said, adding to the mounting scrutiny of the workplace behavior in America’s most popular sport.
The attorneys general said they issued subpoenas to the league seeking relevant information and that the joint investigation will probe allegations made by former employees, including potential violations of federal and state equity and antidiscrimination laws.
“No person should ever have to endure harassment, discrimination, or objectification in the workplace,” said New York attorney general Letitia James. “No matter how powerful or influential, no institution is above the law, and we will ensure the NFL is held accountable.”
The attorneys general cited several incidents of public accusations of wrongdoing, including the U.S. congressional investigation into the Washington Commanders and the NFL, which came after numerous former employees alleged being sexually or verbally harassed while working for the team. That probe examined not just the alleged workplace problems within the Commanders, which have long troubled the franchise that’s now on the brink of a sale by embattled owner Dan Snyder, but also how the NFL handled the issue.
In December, the House oversight committee issued a scathing report with its findings. It assailed Snyder and the NFL, accusing the league of effectively shielding the owner from harsher punishment. It said the league was aware that Snyder had tried to impede a league-run investigation into the problems and privately negotiated the terms of Snyder’s punishment with him.
Snyder, who in 2009 paid $1.6 million to settle a sexual assault allegation, has apologized for the team’s workplace culture but denied personal wrongdoing. In a statement at the time of the report, an NFL spokesman defended the league’s investigation and punishment of the Commanders, which included a $10 million fine. The statement added that the league had cooperated thoroughly with the committee’s investigation, producing nearly half a million documents.
The NFL and the Commanders are also the subject of consumer-protection litigation brought by D.C.’s attorney general over their response to the workplace allegations at the Washington football team.
The attorneys general said despite reports and allegations of abuse “perpetrated by both players and staff” the NFL hasn’t taken sufficient steps to address workplace problems. They cited a 2022 report by the New York Times, in which former female employees of the league came forward alleging gender discrimination, and a recent lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court that alleges age, sex and gender discrimination.
Another employment discrimination lawsuit was filed in New Jersey earlier this year by a former temporary worker who accused the league of employment discrimination, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. That lawsuit also accused the league’s production arm of keeping a catalog of lewd shots of women at games.
An NFL spokesman at the time said the league had never retaliated or discriminated against the woman. As for the allegations about cataloging the shots of women, the league said images are marked as “sensitive” to ensure they won’t be used in future content and are no longer accessible for future productions.