Last week, a Nevada judge ruled in favor of former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden on two motions that will now open the possibility of a jury trial on his “tortious interference” claim that the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell selectively leaked Gruden’s emails to force his removal back in October.
Las Vegas attorney Sam Mirejovsky of the Sam & Ash Law Firm wrote his opinion on the case and shared how this will ultimately screw Goodell in the future:
“I predict that this suit will ultimately cost Goodell his job. With adversaries like Gruden and Davis, Goodell faces a discovery effort that will look to uncover evidence of Goodell’s own wrongdoing. In today’s digital world — the same one that hung Gruden out to dry — I find it inconceivable that there isn’t SOMETHING out there that could kill Goodell’s career.
Yes, the scope of discovery is limited to the case at hand but the discovery has a way of finding all the skeletons.”
The New York Times and Wall Street Journal published racist, misogynistic and homophobic emails he sent to the league from 2011 to 2018 and it ultimately forced Gruden to part ways with the Raiders.
He had no plans of going down without a fight as he filed a lawsuit shortly thereafter, alleging that the NFL intentionally targeted him and leaked the emails to the media.
“There is no explanation or justification for why Gruden’s emails were the only ones made public out of the 650,000 emails collected in the NFL’s investigation of the Washington Football Team or for why the emails were held for months before being released in the middle of the Raiders’ season,” attorney Adam Hosmer-Henner said in a statement at the time.
The NFL said in a statement given to multiple media outlets that it would appeal.
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“We believe Coach Gruden’s claims should have been compelled to arbitration, and we will file an appeal of the Court’s determination. The Court’s denial of our motion to dismiss is not a determination on the merits of Coach Gruden’s lawsuit, which, as we have said from the outset, lacks a basis in law and fact and proceeds from a false premise — neither the NFL nor the Commissioner leaked Coach Gruden’s offensive emails.”
Gruden became the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers via a blockbuster trade. He led the team to a Super Bowl title in his rookie season, and it was the team’s first championship in franchise history. In his career, Gruden has posted a 117-112 record and a 5-4 record in the postseason.
