NFL appealing to the Nevada Supreme Court over Jon Gruden emails lawsuit

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A lawsuit over former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden's emails is heading to the Nevada Supreme Court,.

The National Football League filed new documents on Tuesday.

This comes after a district court denied the league's motion to compel arbitration on Oct. 12, 2022.

The new court documents obtained by Channel 13 show the judge said arbitration doesn't apply for four reasons:

1. Gruden's employment contract was terminated before the complaint was filed.
2. The NFL's arbitration provisions don't cover former employees.
3. The complaint doesn't relate to any allegations of detrimental conduct.
4. Arbitration would be "unconscionable, both procedurally and substantively."

It's all over emails that were sent by Gruden from 2011 to 2018 when he worked as a sports broadcaster for ESPN. Those emails included racist, misogynist, and homophobic comments.

Gruden's attorneys said the NFL first became aware of these emails during an investigation into the Washington Commanders football team. The team and its owner, Dan Snyder, were investigated after claims of workplace harassment. The complaint said the NFL gathered more than 650,000 emails as part of the investigation, including Gruden's, and sat on them for months.

The new court documents lay out the timeline for the case:

• 2011-2018: Gruden sends offensive emails to several individuals, including Bruce Allen, general manager of the Washington Commanders from 2009 to 2019
• June 2021: Gruden's attorneys claim the NFL became aware of the emails
• Oct. 8, 2021: Gruden said the NFL leaked the first batch of emails to the Wall Street Journal
• Oct. 8, 2021: Raiders say they're reviewing materials provided to them by the NFL

• Oct. 11, 2021: When he wasn't fired or disciplined, Gruden said the NFL leaked a second batch of emails to the New York Times.
• Oct. 11, 2021: Gruden resigns from the Las Vegas Raiders
• Nov. 11, 2021: Gruden filed lawsuit against the NFL

RELEASING THE EMAILS

Gruden's claims: According to court documents, Gruden's attorneys are calling this a "Soviet-style character assassination." The complaint said the NFL chose to release those specific emails despite never releasing a report on the investigation, not releasing the rest of the emails, keeping most of those documents from Congress, and only fining the Commanders $10 million. The documents accuse the NFL of using Gruden as a distraction to take the heat off the league.

NFL's claims: Court documents show the NFL's attorneys said that releasing the emails would only harm the league and it wasn't in their best interest to release them. They added if they wanted Gruden fired, which they didn't, they wouldn't have had to resort to leaks because they had the right to cancel his contract. The NFL added they can't protect Gruden for knowingly sending offensive emails for years to multiple people through multiple services and expect them to remain private.

FINANCIAL LOSSES/ARBITRATION PROCESS

Gruden's claims: Gruden's attorneys said he's suffering from financial losses like a Skechers endorsement deal, being removed from the Madden NFL 22 video game, and Gruden's name has already been removed from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ring of Honor at Raymond James Stadium. They also said NFL employees handling sensitive documents like the emails should have handled them with care.

NFL's claims: The NFL said there are no facts to support those theories, adding that arbitration procedures are covered in the NFL Constitution, which they say Gruden agreed to when he signed his contract to lead the Raiders back in 2018.

However, Gruden's attorneys said Gruden never saw a copy of the Constitution and even if he did, the arbitration process is moderated by Goodell and wouldn't be fair.

Court documents show the NFL used examples of how arbitration processes have worked in the past, including Tom Brady being disciplined for "Deflategate," as well as Ezekiel Elliot and Adrian Peterson for conduct unbecoming to the league.

RAIDERS LEFT OUT OF COURT PROCEEDINGS

The Raiders have not been named as a defendant in these court proceedings since Gruden reached a settlement with them before filing the complaint. Attorneys for the NFL state in court documents that was on purpose since Gruden knew that if claims were filed against the NFL for arbitration, claims against the Raiders would also have to enter the arbitration process.

NFL attorneys said that "if Gruden suffered any damage, he has no one to blame but himself" and noted the "detrimental impact of his views on professional football and society at large."

As of Thursday, a hearing date hasn't been set.