Fifteen former female employees who worked for the Redskins told The Washington Post that they were sexually harassed while working for the organization. It was the bombshell story that the world was waiting for that detailed the toxic culture from within the organization.
Emily Applegate, who worked as a marketing coordinator before leaving in 2015, was the only woman who spoke to the newspaper on the record about her experience working for the Redskins.
“It was the most miserable experience of my life,” Applegate told The Post. “And we all tolerated it, because we knew if we complained — and they reminded us of this — there were 1,000 people out there who would take our job in a heartbeat.”
Washington’s longtime radio voice Larry Michael, who retired abruptly on Wednesday, and team director of pro personnel Alex Santos — who was recently fired — were two names mentioned in the allegations Thursday.
Soon after the news dropped, Ron Rivera, who was hired this offseason, shared a strong reaction to the sexual assault allegations against Washington employees.
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None of the 15 women accused Snyder or former team president Bruce Allen of inappropriate behavior, according to the newspaper.
“I would assume Bruce [Allen] knew, because he sat 30 feet away from me… and saw me sobbing at my desk several times every week,” Applegate told the newspaper.
Even though Daniel Snyder wasn’t named in the allegations, he seemed complicit in creating a toxic work environment.
The team announced in a statement that it hired Washington D.C. attorney Beth Wilkinson “to conduct a thorough independent review of this entire manner and help the team set new employee standards for the future.”
“The Washington Redskins football team takes issues of employee conduct seriously,” the team said in a statement. “While we do not speak to specific employee situations publicly, when new allegations of conduct are brought forward that are contrary to these policies, we address them promptly.”
