The Washington Redskins are in the news: The scandal unwrapped
A report published in the Washington Post detailed several allegations against former members of the front office of the Washington football team. These allegations were made by 15 former employees of the team. Many of the claims involve inappropriate conduct, a toxic working environment, and several instances of sexual harassment.
Two prominent figures in the report were the director & assistant director of Pro Personnel, Alex Santos & Richard Mann II, respectively. Both men have been fired from their positions.
Santos has been involved in various incidents of sexual misconduct. One of which involved Santos pinching Rhianna Walker, a reporter for The Athletic, and telling her that she had “an ass like a wagon”. An internal investigation was launched after the incident.
Other women have also come forward with their experiences with Santos. They’ve said that Santos would make frequent comments about their appearance and ask them if they were interested in him romantically.
Mann was also reported harassing a woman via text messages, asking if her breasts were real or not. The texts included Mann telling the woman that she should expect an “inappropriate hug” from him. He went into further detail, by adding, “don’t worry that will be a stapler in my pocket, nothing else.”
Many of these complaints were left unresolved under the ownership of Dan Snyder, who’s leadership has fostered a toxic working environment for female employees. During a trip to Costa Rica in 2013, the cheerleaders were exploited and asked to be part of a topless photoshoot for the men.
The team responded to the report by issuing a statement: “The Washington Redskins football team takes issues of employee conduct seriously. While we do not speak to specific employee situations publicly, when new allegations of conduct are brought forward that are contrary to these policies, we address them promptly.”
Time will tell if the working environment will actually improve, but it’s obvious that the team has a history of being behind the times – just look at how long it took for them to change their name.
