LAS VEGAS — The Nevada Supreme Court on Monday sided with former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden in his lawsuit alleging the NFL leaked damaging emails to the media before he resigned from the team in 2021.
In their 5-2 ruling, justices did not determine whether or not the league had leaked Gruden’s emails, but they found that the league’s decision to force his complaint into arbitration proceedings overseen by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell — the target of Gruden’s civil lawsuit — was “unconscionable.”
As a former employee, Gruden should not have been bound by a provision in the NFL Constitution mandating arbitration for such complaints, the court ruled.
“By its own unambiguous language, the NFL Constitution no longer applies to Gruden,” the justices wrote. “If the NFL Constitution were to bind former employees, the Commissioner could essentially pick and choose which disputes to arbitrate.”
All seven justices reconsidered the findings after a smaller panel of the court made a 2-1 decision last year to dismiss Gruden’s civil case. The same three justices rejected on July 1, 2024, by the same 2-1 margin, a request from Gruden’s attorneys to reconsider.
“We’re very pleased with the Nevada Supreme Court’s decision, not just for Coach Gruden but for all employees facing an employer’s unfair arbitration process,” said Adam Hosmer-Henner of McDonald Carano LLP, attorneys for Jon Gruden. “This victory further vindicates Coach Gruden’s reputation, and it clears the way to swiftly bringing him full justice and holding the NFL accountable.”
The NFL’s only remaining avenue would be an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. An NFL spokesman declined to comment.
The Nevada Supreme Court panel earlier decided the league could move the civil case into arbitration that might be overseen by Goodell. Two justices said Gruden knew when he signed a contract with the Raiders that the NFL used arbitration to resolve disputes. The dissenting justice said it would be “outrageous” for Goodell to arbitrate a dispute in which he is a named defendant.
Gruden’s lawsuit alleges that Goodell and the league pressured the Raiders to fire Gruden by leaking emails containing racist, sexist and anti-gay comments that Gruden sent, when he was an on-air analyst at ESPN, about Goodell and others in the NFL. Gruden resigned from the Raiders in November 2021.
The NFL appealed to Nevada’s high court after a state judge in Las Vegas in May 2022 rejected league bids to dismiss Gruden’s claim outright or to order out-of-court talks that could be overseen by Goodell.
The judge pointed to Gruden’s allegation that the league intentionally leaked only his documents. She said a jury could decide that was evidence of “specific intent” or an act designed to cause a particular result.
Gruden was the Raiders’ coach when the team moved in 2020 to Las Vegas from Oakland, California. He is seeking monetary damages, alleging that selective disclosure of the emails and their publication by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times ruined his career and endorsement contracts.
Gruden coached the Raiders in Oakland from 1998 to 2001 then led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for seven years, winning a Super Bowl title in 2003. He spent several years as a TV analyst for ESPN before being hired by the Raiders again in 2018.
