The list of allegations made against the Las Vegas Raiders regarding workplace misconduct has grown. A report from Briana Erickson and Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal details claims made by former employees across several departments against the team.
The allegations portray how high-ranking front office members “enabled a culture in Oakland and Las Vegas that left [employees] feeling unsupported, underpaid and at risk of retaliation if they voiced concerns.”
Such claims, per the report, have been present throughout numerous lawsuits filed against the team over a stretch of time spanning a decade.
That period includes the recent departures of several high-profile team members, such as former president Marc Badain and his replacement, Dan Ventrelle. The latter was abruptly fired last month, after, as he claimed, he alerted owner Mark Davis to “multiple written complaints from employees that [Davis] created a hostile work environment and engaged in other potential misconduct.”
Retaliation for doing so, Ventrelle has argued, was the reason his 18-year tenure with the franchise was terminated.
Notably, these new accusations name Ventrelle – who also previously served as the team’s general counsel – as part of the reason for the existence of "a troubling pattern of harassment, forced demotions and unequal treatment” of female employees. One such former worker is Nicole Adams, an ex-HR staffer who accuses Ventrelle of being “involved in every situation that happened, every situation of harassment, every situation of a hostile working condition.” Another remark a by women formerly associated with the organization categorizes it as “a boys club and the mob wrapped in one.”
The report further details the circumstances surrounding multiple settlements reached between the team and former employees in recent years, which have created the general sense amongst the employees in question that widespread misconduct is no surprise. It also indicates that the organization gave “unexpected” raises and bonuses to remaining workers immediately after Ventrelle’s dismissal.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy stated that the league won’t comment on the details of these allegations. Davis himself, meanwhile, remarked that “Eventually, I will have something to say about all of this, but not right now.”
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