Bloomberg—Six US state attorneys general have urged the National Football League (NFL) to improve working conditions employees after complaints that the organization is a place of hostile work for women.
NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, you must act “quickly” in response to reports that dozens of former employees have described a “pervasive culture of sexism and pervasive discrimination in the workplace”, New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement Wednesday.
“With 1,100 employees in the NFL, of which 37% are women and 30% are people of color, it is imperative that you ensure that all employees are treated equally, fairly and with the dignity they deserve. the attorneys for New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, Oregon, Washington and Minnesota said in a joint letter to Goodell.
The New York TimesIt was reported in February that more than 30 women who worked for the league described a “deeply ingrained and stifling corporate culture that demoralized some employees, led to some quitting in frustration and left many feeling left out.”
In a statement, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said: “We share the Attorneys General’s commitment to ensuring that all of our workplaces – including the league office and all 32 clubs – are diverse, inclusive and free from discrimination and harassment.”
The New York attorney general said the league had failed to deliver on its promises of reform.
“In 2014, we watched in horror the video of Ray Rice brutally attacks his fiancéesaid James. “In the wake of this disturbing incident and too many others, the NFL promised to do better, to take gender-based violence seriously and to improve conditions for women in the league. Now we know that they didn’t do any of that.”
Former workers have described incidents in which they were repeatedly forced to watch Rice’s video as their colleagues pointed out that the victim’s own behavior caused the incident, according to the letter. They also said they were touched without their consent by male bosses, attended parties where prostitutes were hired and did not receive promotions because of their gender, the attorneys general said.