LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden will get his chance to prove the National Football League leaked emails that led to his ouster.
On Wednesday, Clark County 8th Judicial District Court Judge Nancy Allf ruled against the NFL’s attempt to compel arbitration in the matter against Gruden and also a motion to dismiss the case outright.
Gruden stepped down from his head coaching role after emails surfaced in which he made racist and misogynistic comments.
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His lawsuit against the NFL claims the league leaked those emails to the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times in order to harm his reputation and force him out of a job.
The NFL argued that the suit is a baseless attempt to blame the league and that Gruden can only blame himself.
Gruden was represented by Adam Hosmer-Henner, a partner at the law firm McDonald Carano LLP. According to the firm’s website, Hosmer-Henner “represents his clients in litigation and arbitration involving a wide range of complex matters and focuses on health care, gaming, antitrust and unfair trade practices, intellectual property, trusts and estates, and commercial torts”
The NFL was represented by outside counsel Kannon Shanmugam, chair of the Supreme Court and Appellate Practice Group for Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.
13 Action News was able to contact an NFL spokesman who said, "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."
