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Jon Gruden’s NFL lawsuit put on pause

Updated January 24, 2023 - 4:03 pm

The Nevada State Supreme Court has called a timeout on former Raiders coach Jon Gruden’s lawsuit against the NFL.

In an order filed Monday, the state’s highest court granted commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL’s motion to pause Gruden’s lawsuit pending the completion of an appeal challenging a district court’s denial of their motion to ask for arbitration.

In October, District Judge Nancy Allf ruled that the NFL could not force Gruden into an arbitration process outside of court. Allf ruled that the arbitration process would be unfair in part because the NFL’s constitution would allow for Goodell to act as the arbitrator.

The NFL argued in its appeal that the lawsuit should be halted because Goodell “will suffer far greater harm” if the suit is resolved before the appeal over the arbitration process is settled. Gruden’s attorneys argued that continuing the lawsuit into the formal discovery process should not harm the league because “the same discovery should be required in arbitration.”

Gruden and the NFL have been locked in a legal battle since he sued the league and Goodell in November 2021, claiming that the league leaked derogatory emails he wrote in an attempt to ruin his career and reputation.

Gruden resigned as Raiders coach the month before the lawsuit, after The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times published racist, misogynistic and anti-LGBTQ emails he had written.

The NFL has claimed it did not leak the emails. During sworn testimony last month to the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee, former Washington Commanders president Bruce Allen claimed an NFL official told him the Commanders were behind the leak.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Katelyn Newberg contributed to this report.

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