D.C. attorney general sues Daniel Snyder, Commanders, NFL

“For years, the team and its owner have caused very real and very serious harm and then lied about it to dodge accountability and to continue to rake in profits,” Racine said at a news conference. “So far, they seem to have gotten away with it. But that stops today.”

The lawsuit was filed in the civil division of D.C. Superior Court. It alleges the team and league violated D.C.’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act with “public misrepresentations, omissions, and ambiguities of material fact.” Racine’s office said it is seeking “financial penalties under the CPPA for every incident in which the Commanders, Mr. Snyder, the NFL, and Commissioner Goodell lied to District residents dating back to July 2020,” adding that the defendants “could face millions of dollars in penalties.”

Svrluga: The Commanders’ biggest threat, as always, is coming from inside the house

Racine’s office said it also will seek a court order to force the NFL to release the findings of a previous investigation, conducted by attorney Beth Wilkinson, of the team’s workplace.

“Faced with public outrage over detailed and widespread allegations of sexual misconduct and a persistently hostile work environment at the Team, Defendants made a series of public statements to convince District consumers that this dysfunctional and misogynistic conduct was limited and that they were fully cooperating with an independent investigation,” the lawsuit says. “These statements were false and calculated to mislead consumers so they would continue to support the Team financially without thinking that they were supporting such misconduct.”

The team and the NFL denied the allegations.

“Over two years ago, Dan and Tanya Snyder acknowledged that an unacceptable workplace culture had existed within their organization for several years and they have apologized many times for allowing that to happen,” John Brownlee and Stuart Nash, attorneys for the Commanders, said in a statement issued by the team. “We agree with AG Racine on one thing: the public needs to know the truth. Although the lawsuit repeats a lot of innuendo, half-truths and lies, we welcome this opportunity to defend the organization — for the first time — in a court of law and to establish, once and for all, what is fact and what is fiction.”

Goodell has said the league did not release Wilkinson’s findings because of promises of confidentiality made to witnesses. The NFL said in July 2021 that, based on those findings, the team was being fined $10 million…