NFL releases statement on sexual harassment allegations in Washington

The NFL has released a statement on the alleged misconduct inside the Washington football organization.

The NFL has announced they will seek to provide consequences to Washington’s football franchise when an investigation concludes.

On Monday, The Washington Post published an exclusive where 15 women spoke against Washington’s professional football franchise sharing stories of sexual harassment and misconduct in the workplace. The NFL released a statement on Friday condemning the alleged acts.

“These matters as reported are serious, disturbing and contrary to the NFL’s values,” the NFL said in the statement. “Everyone in the NFL has the right to work in an environment free from any and all forms of harassment.“

In The Washington Post article, evidence of vulgar text messages being exchanged with female workers emerged. One message revealed how there was an inside joke going on with male employees about a female’s body. Another message shows an employee asking if he could grope the woman he was texting the next time they meet in person.

Thus far, two executives accused of sexual harassment, Alex Santos and Richard Man II, have been fired by the organization. The NFL assures consequences won’t stop there.

“Washington has engaged outside counsel to conduct a thorough investigation into these allegations. The club has pledged that it will give its full cooperation to the investigator and we expect the club and all employees to do so,” the NFL said the statement. “We will meet with the attorneys upon the conclusion of their investigation and take any action based on the findings.”

These allegations come days after the Washington franchise decided to officially retire its name because it is a racial slur against Native Americans. However, it took sponsors saying they would pull their support for the organization for Washington to finally decide to change its team name.

Earlier this offseason, Washington hired Ron Rivera as head coach. Going forward the organization will have an “open door” policy.

“My daughter [Courtney] works for the team, and I sure as hell am not going to allow any of this,” Rivera said.