New allegations of sexual harassment emerged Thursday about Washington Commanders team owner Daniel Snyder during a congressional roundtable investigating the team’s “toxic workplace” and what some members of Congress are calling the NFL’s “cover-up.”
Tiffani Johnston, a former marketing and events coordinator for the team, told a congressional committee that she was “strategically” placed next to Snyder at a work dinner “not to discuss business, but to allow him, Dan Snyder, to place his hand on my thigh under the table.”
“I learned that job survival meant I should continue my conversation with another co-worker rather than call out Dan Snyder right then in the moment,” Johnston continued. “I also learned later that evening how to awkwardly laugh when Dan Snyder aggressively pushed me toward his limo with his hand on my lower back, encouraging me to ride with him to my car. I learned how to continue to say no even though a situation was getting more awkward, uncomfortable and physical. I learned that the only reason Dan Snyder removed his hand from my back and stopped pushing me toward his limo was because his attorney intervened and said ‘Dan, Dan, this is a bad idea. A very bad idea, Dan.’ I learned that I should remove myself from Dan’s grip while his attorney was distracting him.”
In an emailed statement from the team, Snyder apologized again for past misconduct that took place in his organization but denied the new allegations.
“I have acknowledged and apologized multiple times in the past for the misconduct which took place at the Team and the harm suffered by some of our valued employees,” he said. “I apologize again today for this conduct, and fully support the people who have been victimized and have come forward to tell their stories.
“While past conduct at the Team was unacceptable, the allegations leveled against me personally in today’s roundtable — many of which are well over 13 years old — are outright lies. I unequivocally deny having…