LAS VEGAS – Jon Gruden lost an attempt by three Nevada Supreme Court judges on Monday to rule on whether a lawsuit he filed against the NFL over emails leaked to the media before his resignation as coach of the Las Vegas Raiders ought to be heard in court or in private arbitration.
Attorneys for Gruden, the league and an NFL spokesman didn’t reply to messages after a two-word order – “New hearing denied” – was posted on a court website. It was not immediately clear whether Gruden will request a hearing before the total, seven-member state Supreme Court.
Gruden's lawyers requested a brand new hearing after the three-judge panel reached a Decision of 14 May However, the league can take the civil case on contract interference and conspiracy charges out of state court and produce it before an arbitration panel that might be overseen by certainly one of the defendants, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Gruden's lawsuitThe lawsuit, filed in November 2021, alleges that Goodell and the league forced him to resign from the Raiders by leaking racist, sexist and homophobic emails he sent years earlier when he was at ESPN.
The two-judge majority said Gruden was aware that the NFL structure allows disputes to be resolved through arbitration, and it was not clear whether Goodell or a chosen outside arbitrator would hear Gruden's case.
Gruden was the Raiders' head coach when the team moved from Oakland, California, to Las Vegas in 2020. He left the team in November 2021 with greater than six seasons left on his record-breaking 10-year, $100 million contract.
The league appealed to the state’s highest court after a Las Vegas judge ruled in May 2022 that Gruden’s claim that the league intentionally only his documents could provide evidence of a ‘specific intention’ or an motion geared toward bringing about a specific result.
Gruden was at ESPN when the emails were sent to former Washington Commanders general manager Bruce Allen from 2011 to 2018. They were found amongst about 650,000 emails the league received as a part of an investigation into the Washington team's work culture.
Gruden is in search of damages, claiming that the selective disclosure of the emails and their publication by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times destroyed his profession and ruined promoting deals.
Gruden worked as a coach within the NFL from 1990 to 2008, including in Oakland and with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whom he led to the Super Bowl title in 2003. He worked for several years as a TV commentator for ESPN before rejoining the Raiders in 2018.
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