LAS VEGAS — A Nevada court apparently cleared the way Monday for a 2021 lawsuit filed by former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden to proceed against the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell, alleging that a \u201cmalicious and orchestrated campaign\u201d was used to destroy Gruden\u2019s career by leaking old emails he had sent that included racist, misogynistic and homophobic comments.<\/p>\n
In 2022, the NFL appealed<\/a> to Nevada’s high court after a judge in Las Vegas rejected league bids to dismiss Gruden\u2019s claim outright or to order out-of-court talks through an arbitration process that could be overseen by Goodell.<\/p>\n The Nevada Supreme Court, in a 5-2 ruling, said that \u201cthe arbitration clause in the NFL Constitution is unconscionable and does not apply to Gruden as a former employee.\u201d<\/p>\n Gruden\u2019s lawsuit<\/a> alleged that Goodell and the league pressured the Raiders to fire Gruden by leaking emails containing racist, sexist and homophobic comments that Gruden sent, when he was an on-air analyst at ESPN from 2011 to 2018. Gruden resigned from the Raiders<\/a> in October 2021 and sued the league a month later.<\/p>\n The NFL declined to comment on the ruling.<\/p>\n Gruden’s attorney did not return a phone message seeking comment.<\/p>\n Gruden was Raiders head coach when the team moved in 2020 to Las Vegas from Oakland, California. He\u2019s seeking monetary damages, alleging that selective disclosure of the emails and their publication by the Wall Street Journal and New York Times ruined his career and endorsement contracts.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n