5 takeaways for business leaders from the Gruden scandal

As published by the Sacramento Business Journal

As workplace investigators, we know one thing – investigations can lead to surprising results. Jon Gruden’s history of making derogatory, demeaning and insensitive comments about Black people, women and the LGBTQ+ community may never have been discovered but for another team’s investigation. The NFL’s investigation into workplace misconduct within the Washington Football Team organization led to a trove of Gruden’s crude and offensive emails sent over a seven-year period, the NFL confirmed to CNN. Gruden resigned Monday as coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.

This scandal is likely far from over, but five takeaways stand out:

1.     Too often, people at the highest levels of leadership don’t hold each other accountable. 

Many, but not all, of the emails were sent to the former president of the Washington team, Bruce Allen. Despite a lengthy history of appalling comments denigrating gays, Black people and women, neither Allen nor anyone else who witnessed these or similar emails raised concerns. It was not until the Washington Football Team was required to turn over email records in an unrelated investigation of its workplace culture that Gruden’s unfiltered communications were revealed. Then, the NFL, after fining the Washington Football Team owner $10 million, turned Gruden’s emails over to the Raiders organization. Change won’t happen in the workplace if leaders don’t hold each other accountable. 

2.     Leaders in racially diverse environments can still be shockingly insensitive.

Watching a football game on any Sunday afternoon demonstrates beyond doubt that football teams have diversity on the field. But it continues to be the case that diversity does not extend to the upper echelon of team management or the league. And as we see from the continuing breaking news, even with diversity within the ranks of the on-field talent – critical to the team’s success – leaders felt comfortable engaging in grotesque exchanges. Gruden, who was then an ESPN analyst, and Snyder, then-President of an NFL franchise, did just that. 

3.     Expect the unexpected. 

Reviewing emails yields unexpected results. For the investigators out there, and the employers that hire them, email traffic provides a telling window into an organization’s culture. People say astonishing things in print, from emails to text messages. It is always worth reviewing emails and other documents for evidence of workplace culture. When you do, be prepared for unexpected revelations that may be unrelated to the purpose of the review. And, before you head down the road of doing expansive email communications, think in advance about how to deal with and respond to the unexpected. The unexpected will be there.   

4.     The march to stop derogatory and demeaning conduct in the workplace is long.

Gruden’s story is just one more in a series of high-profile leaders and celebrities engaging in the type of insidious conduct that perpetuates bias in the workplace. That Gruden’s comments were apparently tolerated for such a long period of time sends a strong message that ending this type of behavior in the workplace is frustratingly difficult – especially when it involves people in positions of power. Employers, leaders, employees at all levels have a responsibility to hold each other accountable for bad behavior. Such conduct is not only hurtful, it validates and perpetuates suppressing underrepresented groups in the workplace and in society.

5.     Saying, “I’m not a racist,” is not a defense. Actions speak louder than words.

Faced with his own words, Gruden had little choice but to apologize and resign, but one comment stands out. Gruden said, “All I can say is that I’m not a racist.” Too often, the people making the bad comments hope to absolve themselves by claiming not to be a racist, a sexist, a bigot, or any other label. At the end of the day, regardless of whether Gruden made decisions based on race or other characteristics, his comments perpetuated a systemic and cultural environment of racism and bigotry. Worse, by allowing this behavior, every leader and stakeholder to whom he made such comments enabled the toxic culture.

Eli Makus and Sue Ann Van Dermyden are senior partners of Van Dermyden Makus Law Corporation, based in Sacramento, CA., one of the nation’s leading law firms specializing in workplace, sexual harassment and Title IX investigations.