WFT Confidential Settlement Found During NFL's Sexual Harassment Investigation

In August, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the league was investigating the Washington Football Team for allegations of workplace sexual harassment, and that investigation reportedly uncovered a confidential settlement from 2009. 

Beth Reinhard, Liz Clarke and Will Hobson of the Washington Post reported the news, noting David P. Donovan, who was the team's chief operating officer for three years and served as the team's general counsel from 2005 to 2011, sued lawyer Beth Wilkinson in federal court in an effort to stop the confidential agreement from becoming public.

Wilkinson is leading the NFL's investigation.

Details such as the allegations that led to the settlement and the name of the complainant are not known, but Donovan is a party to the confidential agreement.

"Donovan dropped the suit Nov. 23, but Wilkinson's lawyers urged the court to decide which documents in the case could be unsealed 'so the public can understand what [Donovan] is trying to accomplish through this lawsuit and how it relates to the investigation writ-large,'" Reinhard, Clarke and Hobson wrote.

Donovan also filed an emergency motion Monday in an effort to delay the disclosure of information when Wilkinson submitted some redacted filings.

He said he did so because the team and owner Dan Snyder plan on intervening in the case for "asserting privilege and privacy or related interests over information that is under seal."

U.S. Magistrate Judge Ivan Davis granted the motion Monday.

In August, the Washington Post reported 25 women said they experienced sexual harassment while working for the team. The allegations echoed those from another story by Hobson and Clarke in July. 

The team said it is "committed" to investigating the allegations in a statement.