USA TODAY Sports
It took three years for it to happen, but a second NFL owner was finally bound by a confidential agreement on alleged misconduct that, if it did, could have significant consequences for the owner. Panthers founder Jerry Richardson promptly sold his team after several confidential deals surfaced in 2017. Now Washington owner Daniel Snyder is subject to a previously confidential deal for alleged sexual misconduct, which he allegedly implied a payment of $ 1.6 million.
The very existence of the confidential agreement, which Snyder apparently acknowledged, requires a full investigation. This will also force Snyder to waive the confidentiality clause to allow the former employee who received the payment to fully cooperate with the investigation.
The threshold question becomes whether the circumstances surrounding the payment are within the limits of the existing investigation, which was initiated by the team and led by the league, or whether a separate investigation should be initiated. Whatever it is, whoever does it and how it happens, the league must check whether and to what extent Snyder has violated the Personal Conduct Policy.
He says in a statement made earlier this week that a “well-respected law firm” investigated the situation and “no evidence of wrongdoing was found”. Snyder says that an “insurer” decided to settle the case.
The reality is that no insurer can resolve a case without the insured’s consent. If Snyder wanted to fight, Snyder could have fought, up to the limit of his insurance coverage. (Depending on the terms of the policy and applicable law, Snyder would have possibly become personally responsible for any verdict in excess of $ 1.6 million.)
In spite of everything, the insurance company did not spend as much money to protect Snyder and his family from embarrassment. The insurance industry’s only commodity is money; they love to receive and hate to pay them. An insurer will pay $ 1.6 million voluntarily in an agreement only if the insurer is afraid to pay much more involuntarily after a verdict has been reached.
Common sense, then, suggests that it is not simply a matter of “hiding money” and that the money was to compensate, at least partially, the former employee for the alleged damage suffered. Whatever the truth, there is enough evidence in the public domain to compel the league to investigate private details to determine whether and to what extent discipline should be imposed on Snyder.