Washington Football Team reportedly settled with Dan Snyder sexual misconduct accuser for $1.6 million

Dan Snyder
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Washington Football Team reportedly paid $1.6 million in a confidential settlement after a woman accused owner Daniel Snyder of sexual misconduct.

The team reportedly paid this settlement in 2009 following an alleged incident on Snyder’s private plane, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday. The Post cited a copy of the agreement, and court records reportedly showed that Snyder's business partners referred to a "serious accusation of sexual misconduct."

The agreement reportedly did not provide details of the misconduct allegation, nor did Snyder admit wrongdoing, but it said that a female employee who was later fired made "certain allegations" in April 2009, according to the Post. The woman who made the claims did not respond to the Post's request for comment.

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The New York Times previously reported that "two investigations conducted in 2009, one by the team and another by an outside law firm hired by the team, said they were unable to substantiate" a woman's allegation "that Snyder had accosted her in April 2009 on a flight to Washington from Las Vegas" and that the team paid a settlement "to avoid any potential negative publicity if the woman sued Snyder." According to the Post, attorneys for the team's minority owners described the Times' characterization as a "self-serving and one-sided framing of a serious accusation of sexual misconduct against Mr. Snyder."

This comes amid an NFL investigation into the Washington Football Team after women came forward with allegations that they experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, and the Post previously reported that this probe uncovered a confidential settlement. According to the Post, the "team's lawyers are fighting in federal court to keep" it "under wraps." Read more at The Washington Post.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.