Getty Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis.
Since Mark Davis took over ownership of the Las Vegas Raiders in 2011, it’s been a rocky road. Off the field, a number of issues have plagued the team.
The latest involves a June 25 report by Briana Erickson and Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal that has shed light on how the “storied franchise enabled a culture in Oakland and Las Vegas that left [some female employees] feeling unsupported, underpaid and at risk of retaliation if they voiced concerns.”
Many of the allegations reported by the Review-Journal center on how the Raiders have created a “boys club and the mob wrapped in one,” according to a woman who used to work for the team.
Another woman, Nicolle Reeder, filed a class-action lawsuit against the team in 2020 for violating California labor law. “When you’re in that environment, it’s kind of like survival of the fittest,” Reeder told Erickson and Akers.
In May, after Davis fired team President Dan Ventrelle after 18 years with the franchise, Ventrelle said he was fired as retaliation for bringing up allegations of workplace misconduct to Davis. But Ventrelle “was involved,” too, according to Nicole Adams, a former Raiders human resources employee.
“Dan was involved in every situation that happened, every situation of harassment, every situation of a hostile working condition,” she told the Review-Journal.
Adams, who was fired in November 2020, also said that Ventrelle, while working as general counsel for the team, said he “would be ready to pay off anybody who came with a formal complaint against” a football operations employee who inappropriately kissed Adams, according to the story.
Ventrelle declined to comment for the story, according to the Review-Journal.
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Davis Not Ready to Address the Situation
None of the allegations reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal directly accuse Davis of misconduct. However, there is a sense among employees that he hasn’t provided the necessary leadership.
“To Mark’s credit, he does a good job of taking care of the players and providing them resources,” an anonymous source told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “But part of that makes you feel like it’s a facade. If you’re a truly good leader and organization builder, then you treat everybody well. Not just a certain faction.”
Davis commented for the story but did not elaborate.
“Eventually, I will have something to say about all of this, but not right now,” Davis told the Review-Journal.
A Situation to Watch
The NFL won’t be thrilled by the new report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The Raiders are one of the marquee franchises in the league and Las Vegas has turned out to be an excellent football market.
But Davis, whose net worth reportedly is about $500 million, is known to be the least-prosperous owner in the NFL and he’s considered very much an outsider among owners. So there probably won’t be a lot of owners coming to his defense if he finds himself in hot water. It remains to be seen whether the NFL will launch a full investigation into the allegations of misconduct.
Las Vegas had been praised for the offseason moves that brought Davante Adams and Chandler Jones to the team. For the first time in a long time, there is genuine optimism regarding what the Raiders can do on the field this season.
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