A former Washington Commanders employee has filed a lawsuit against the team and one of the team’s attorneys, accusing them of defamation.
Attorneys representing Jason Friedman, a former sales executive, said in the complaint that the Commanders and attorney John Brownlee made a series of false statements that accused Friedman of committing perjury and implied that “he was terminated as part of the Team’s sexual harassment scandal that was being widely reported.”
Friedman was a participant in several investigations related to the Commanders and owner Dan Snyder. Last year, he testified to members of Congress that Washington was committing a slew of financial improprieties — accusations that the team strongly denied. The House Oversight and Reform Committee, citing Friedman’s testimony, notified the Federal Trade Commission that the Commanders “may have engaged in a troubling, long-running, and potentially unlawful pattern of financial conduct,” according to the panel.
In their response, the Commanders in a letter to the FTC portrayed Friedman as a disgruntled former employee who was fired from the team in October 2020 for “professional misconduct.” Brownlee, an attorney representing the team, also pushed back against Friedman’s allegations in a local radio interview last October.
Friedman, who worked for the Commanders for 24 years, is seeking $7.5 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages, as well as interest and attorney fees.
“The Team’s false statements about Mr. Friedman, which it has repeated or caused to be repeated in various public forums, have devastated him personally and professionally, he suffers from severe anxiety and depression, will require ongoing medical treatment and has been unable to find a comparable job due to the Team’s deliberate and malicious destruction of his reputation,” the complaint reads.
A Commanders spokesperson said in a statement that “we believe this complaint is completely without merit, and we will vigorously defend the team against these false allegations.”
But Lisa Banks, one of Friedman’s attorneys, said in a statement that her client “testified truthfully before Congress about his experiences with the Washington Commanders … In response to his testimony, the team and its lawyer attempted to publicly destroy him by baselessly calling him a liar and questioning his moral character. I am confident that Mr. Friedman will be vindicated both by the NFL’s investigation and a court of law.”
Friedman’s allegations have surfaced in several investigations. Last November, outgoing D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine filed two lawsuits against the team related to what it said was a series of workplace misconduct and financial improprieties. The team and the office later settled the financial lawsuit, which stemmed from allegations that the Commanders intentionally sought to withhold security deposit refunds from season ticket holders.
As part of the April settlement, the Commanders agreed to pay a $625,000 fine but denied “all of the District’s allegations and claims, including that it has violated any consumer protection laws.”
The Commanders also agreed to a $250,000 penalty and returned security deposits in a settlement with the Maryland attorney general’s office last November, again not admitting any wrongdoing.
“We have not accepted security deposits or seat licenses in more than a decade and have been actively working to return any remaining deposits since 2014,” a Commanders spokesperson said in a statement in April. “We are pleased to have reached an agreement on the matter with the DC Attorney General and will work with the office to fulfill our obligations to our fans.”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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