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- The Nevada Supreme Court ruled Jon Gruden’s lawsuit against the league cannot be forced behind closed doors into arbitration.
- Gruden’s lawsuit alleges that the NFL deliberately leaked disparaging emails he wrote.
- The court sided with the former Raiders coach and found that an arbitration clause in the NFL’s Constitution is “unconscionable.”
Jon Gruden has picked up a crucial victory in his yearslong legal fight with the NFL.
The Nevada Supreme Court ruled Aug. 11 that Gruden’s lawsuit against the league, which alleges that it deliberately leaked disparaging emails he wrote, cannot be forced behind closed doors into arbitration.
In a 5-2 decision, the court sided with the former Las Vegas Raiders coach and found that an arbitration clause in the NFL’s Constitution is “unconscionable” because it would effectively allow commissioner Roger Goodell to arbitrate disputes over his own conduct.
“We’re very pleased with the Nevada Supreme Court’s decision, not just for Coach Gruden but for all employees facing an employer’s unfair arbitration process,” Gruden’s attorney Adam Hosmer-Henner said in a statement. “This victory further vindicates Coach Gruden’s reputation, and it clears the way to swiftly bringing him full justice and holding the NFL accountable.”
An NFL spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The league’s only remaining next step would be to appeal Monday’s decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. But it is unclear if the league intends to make such a move − and, if it did, whether the U.S. Supreme Court would agree to hear the case.
The Nevada Supreme Court’s ruling comes nearly four years after Gruden’s dramatic resignation as head coach of the Raiders, amid public outcry over emails he had written when he was working as an NFL analyst for ESPN between 2011 and 2018. The emails, which were obtained as part of an investigation into the then-Washington Football Team, were published by multiple news outlets and included misogynistic and homophobic language.
Gruden subsequently sued the NFL and Goodell in November 2021, alleging that they had deliberately leaked the emails to news outlets in a “malicious and orchestrated campaign” to destroy his career. The NFL has previously described those claims as “baseless” and said only Gruden is at fault for the contents of emails he wrote.
Most of the legal battle in the years since has been not about the details of the case, but rather where it should be resolved. Gruden has argued that his lawsuit should proceed in public view, in a Nevada district court, because he was not a team or league employee at the time of the dispute. The NFL, meanwhile, has sought to push the case into private arbitration and cited a broad arbitration clause in its constitution, which all league employees must abide by.
A district judge in Nevada initially ruled in Gruden’s favor, but the NFL then successfully appealed the matter to a three-judge panel of the state’s supreme court. Monday’s ruling, and reversal, came after Gruden requested a rehearing before the full court.
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @tomschad.bsky.social.
