Gruden, the former coach of the Raiders, is accusing the league of leaking his offensive emails to ‘destroy’ his career and reputation.
Jon Gruden, who resigned as coach of the Las Vegas Raiders last month after The New York Times published details of emails in which he had made homophobic, misogynistic and racist remarks, is suing the N.F.L. and its commissioner, Roger Goodell, for what Gruden’s lawyers contend was a plot to smear his reputation and ruin his career. The 21-page lawsuit, filed Thursday in the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County, Nev., accuses the league and Goodell of engaging in a “a malicious and orchestrated campaign” against Gruden, likening their treatment of the former coach to “a Soviet-style character assassination.” The suit accuses the N.F.L. and Goodell of intentionally leaking the emails to The Times and The Wall Street Journal during the middle of the Raiders’ season to inflict “maximum damage” to Gruden. The Journal on Oct.8 first reported that Gruden, who is white, had used racist tropes to denigrate DeMaurice Smith, who is Black and is the executive director of the N.F.L. Players Association. When Gruden remained as coach after the Journal report, the league, according to the suit, “ratcheted up the pressure” by hinting that additional documents would be made public if the Raiders did not fire Gruden. The suit accuses the N.F.L. of then leaking more messages to The Times, which published its report on Oct.
