In a significant legal development, the Nevada Supreme Court has redirected Jon Gruden’s lawsuit back to the state’s District Court, prompting the NFL to file motions for its swift dismissal. Gruden, who stepped down as the Las Vegas Raiders coach in October 2021, initiated legal action against the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell, accusing them of deliberately tarnishing his reputation by leaking controversial emails.
Following the surfacing of emails containing discriminatory language, Gruden’s resignation was closely followed by his lawsuit. The former coach claimed that the NFL orchestrated a “malicious and orchestrated campaign” to derail his career. The NFL’s latest motion, accessed by The Associated Press, challenges these accusations, stating: “The Complaint — Jon Gruden’s attempt to wrongly blame the NFL and its Commissioner for the consequences of the racist, misogynistic, and homophobic emails Gruden authored and widely distributed — hinges solely on unsupported allegations that fail as a matter of law or fall far short of stating a claim, and should have been promptly dismissed when the NFL Parties first so moved.”
Earlier, the Nevada Supreme Court had denied the NFL’s appeal to halt Gruden’s lawsuit, allowing it to proceed outside of the league’s arbitration framework. In response, the NFL’s attorneys assert that Gruden cannot dispute the authenticity or distribution of the emails. They stated, “Gruden does not and cannot dispute that he wrote the emails that led to his resignation. He does not and cannot dispute that he freely sent those emails to multiple parties. He does not and cannot claim that the emails were misleadingly edited or altered in any way, let alone by the NFL Parties, or that the views espoused in them were not in fact expressed by him. Instead, Gruden has concocted a fictional story that attempts to paint himself as the victim of his own conduct.”
The motion also invokes Nevada’s anti-SLAPP statute, designed to protect free speech under the First Amendment. The NFL argues, “Gruden’s false claims are all premised on quintessential First Amendment activity: the NFL Parties’ alleged communication of unaltered emails authored by Gruden, a public figure, to the national media. And because those claims have no basis in law or fact, the complaint cannot survive under the anti-SLAPP statute.”
After a Las Vegas judge rejected the NFL’s previous attempts to dismiss Gruden’s lawsuit or compel arbitration, the league appealed to Nevada’s high court in 2022. However, the court ruled 5-2 that the arbitration clause in the NFL’s constitution is “unconscionable” and does not apply to Gruden as a former employee.
Gruden, who was an ESPN analyst from 2011 to 2018 when the emails were sent, contends that their selective release and publication by major media outlets damaged his professional standing and endorsements. He is seeking financial compensation for these alleged damages.
Having coached the Raiders during their transition to Las Vegas in 2020, Gruden had a notable career with the team, as well as a successful tenure with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he secured a Super Bowl victory in 2003. Recently, he served as a consultant for the New Orleans Saints and is currently involved with the Nashville Kats in the Arena Football One league as a part owner and consultant.
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