Jon Gruden Is Considering Suing Roger Goodell And The NFL Over Leaked Emails According To Report

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Jon Gruden might go after the NFL following the leaked email scandal that cost him his job.

According to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora Gruden is considering suing Roger Goodell and the NFL for leaking his emails that were found in the WFT workplace investigation.

Via CBS Sports

Former Raiders coach Jon Gruden continues to mull his legal options with several lawyers advising those close to him that they would be willing to take on a lawsuit against commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL over the handling of emails that resulted in Gruden resigning a few weeks ago.

This is anything but over,” as one league source put it.

Some lawyers have asserted that Gruden could have a tortious interference case, claiming the NFL influenced his ouster for private emails that were sent while he was not a league employee that were revealed at a time to inflict maximum damage to Gruden’s career. The lack of transparency in the WFT investigation — no written report, no revelation of evidence — has also led to questions about the nature of what other types of potentially offensive language was being used by others in NFL circles. The NFL has said there was no other incidents of such language being used in the 650,000 emails it perused.

Several NFL insiders, including Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, believe the NFL leaked the emails that got Gruden in trouble.

Via Pro Football Talk

The obvious takeaway from Monday’s stunning leak of homophobic/transphobic/sexists emails following Friday’s stunning leak of one single racist email is that the NFL wanted Gruden out, and that the leaks were going to continue until he resigned or was fired.

The league wasn’t inclined to suspend Gruden. None of the emails released to date were sent when Gruden fell under the NFL’s jurisdiction. Even if he did (more on that below), there’s no specific provision of the Personal Conduct Policy that is directly violated by the contents of private communications.

Also, the league likely didn’t want to fight Gruden publicly over whether a suspension would have been appropriate. If Gruden had fought back, his lawyers would immediately have delved into the question of how, with more than 650,000 emails unearthed by the Washington Football Team investigation, only the emails Gruden sent to former Washington executive Bruce Allen have been released.

A league spokesman was adamant that the NFL did not leak the emails.

Jorge Alonso BroBible avatar
Brobible sports editor. Jorge is a Miami native and lifelong Heat fan. He has been covering the NBA, MLB and NFL professionally for almost 10 years, specializing in digital media.