Washington Commanders' Ex-Employees And Cheerleaders Accuse Dan Snyder Of Sex Abuse

A new string of former employees and cheerleaders from the NFL’s Washington Commanders franchise have detailed their accusations of abuse and sexual harassment against team owner Dan Snyder. On Thursday, allegations were laid on the table in a two-hour-long hearing with the US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform, where the team’s cheerleaders Tiffani Johnston and Melanie Coburn narrated their experiences with Snyder.

According to CBS Sports, the roundtable discussion revealed new allegations claiming workplace misconduct and inappropriate behavior from the accused team owner. The new accusations came following a seven-month investigation in 2020 by the NFL into the said franchise whereby the League had earlier meted out a punishment fine of $10 million to Snyder's team for maintaining a highly unprofessional work environment.

The hearing was attended by Washington's former employees, Brad Baker, former video production manager; Emily Applegate, the team’s former marketing coordinator; former director of marketing and client relations, Rachel Engleson; Ana Nunez, former coordinator of business development and former cheerleaders Melanie Coburn and Tiffani Johnston.

In their opening testimonies, Applegate and Baker alleged they were told by Snyder to edit a montage of lewd footage from the team’s cheerleaders for a calendar shoot documentary titled, “Beauties on the Beach." The said footage contained images and clips of cheerleaders with their breasts and pubic areas exposed.

On top of this, Coburn also claimed she was once invited by Snyder to spend the night in his home in Aspen, Colorado after a drunken “awards trip” night out with the team. However, she was made to sleep in the basement because the men had invited prostitutes back to the home for the after-party. Johnston on the other hand recalled being strategically seated next to Snyder during a work dinner engagement just so “he could put his hand on the middle of my thigh” until she managed to remove it.

Attorneys Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, lawyers representing the six employees along with 40 other former team workers, released a statement on Thursday saying these new testimonies are a crucial first step in holding the Washington Commanders team and Snyder accountable for its mistreatment of female employees.

"Today's Roundtable sent the message that Congress will not tolerate ... attempts to evade accountability from one of the most prominent workplaces in the nation," the statement read.

Snyder earlier released a presser saying he felt great remorse for the people who experienced difficult and traumatic experiences while working with the team franchise.

However, the NFL has also been accused of lacking transparency in the investigation and had been called out for covering up the full findings of the probe.