The news only gets worse for the Redskins, who are already in the midsts of changing their name because people claim Native Americans are offended by it even though past polls have said otherwise:
THE HILL – Over a dozen women have alleged they were sexually harassed or verbally abused while working for Washington’s NFL team.
In total, 15 women told The Washington Post in a story published Thursday that they had been harassed or verbally abused while working for the team, formerly known as the Washington Redskins, between the years 2006 and 2019.
Peering up her skirt…
One woman told the Post that she was “propositioned basically every day at training camp” in Richmond. Other women told the newspaper about constant unwanted attention from male colleagues, with one woman describing an incident in which she caught a trainer peering up her skirt while she was at the top of the stairs near the entrance to the headquarters while he was down below.
“He even leaned to get a better angle,” the woman told the Post. “He wasn’t even trying to hide it.”
“I have never been in a more hostile, manipulative, passive-aggressive environment … and I worked in politics,” Julia Payne, a former press aide in the Clinton administration who worked for the team in 2003, told the Post.
“Propositioned…”
In another incident, a journalist named Rhiannon Walker told the newspaper she was propositioned by Alex Santos, then the team’s director of pro personnel, even though he was married and she was in a relationship. She said she felt humiliated and later filed a complaint with the team.
What exactly does ‘propositioned mean? She was asked on a date or she was asked to have sex? I’m guessing the latter, but I’m not entirely sure.
The team was made aware of the the Post’s story at the beginning of week, prompting them to hire law firm Wilkinson Walsh to conduct “an independent review of the team’s culture, policies and allegations of workplace misconduct,” co-founder of the firm Beth Wilkinson confirmed to The New York Times earlier on Thursday.
Three of the top-level executives that were accused of the harassment were fired this week by the franchise, including Larry Michael, the team’s longtime radio voice, and Richard Mann II, assistant director of pro personnel. Santos was also fired.
“It was the most miserable experience of my life,” one employee, Emily Applegate, told the Post about her experience working at the club. “And we all tolerated it, because we knew if we complained — and they reminded us of this — there were 1,000 people out there who would take our job in a heartbeat.”
I guess it’s time to believe women again since Joe Biden isn’t the one accused of doing the harassing.
I don’t mean to minimize the disrespect these women say they were given, but it’s an all-male sport that is very athletic. There’s a ton of testosterone flying around these organizations and none of this really surprises me. In fact it would surprise me if there was an NFL team where this didn’t happen.
Again, I’m not excusing it. It’s always wrong to disrespect women, no matter the venue. I just wonder how much of this was serious harassment or just guys joking around?