The lawsuit filed in late 2021 by former Raiders coach Jon Gruden against the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell continues to move very slowly through the legal system.
More than 14 months after Gruden filed his civil complaint, we still don’t know whether the case will proceed in open court or in the NFL’s secret, rigged kangaroo court otherwise known as arbitration conducted by the NFL.
But we do know this. The NFL, which lost at the trial-court level the fight over whether Gruden’s claims will stay in the court system, has finally scored a minor victory. Earlier this week, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that the litigation otherwise will be stayed until the NFL’s appeal of the ruling is resolved.
It makes sense. If the NFL ultimately wins its effort to force arbitration, there will be no litigation in court. Thus, there should be no litigation until the NFL and Gruden know where the case will proceed.
For now, Gruden is still winning. His chances of prevailing in the case in many ways hinge on whether the case stays in open court or moves behind closed doors. Our chances of getting to the truth hinge on that, too.
Once the appeals process ends -- and if the case stays in court -- it will be time for Gruden’s lawyers to question people under oath as they embark on finding out who leaked to the media supposedly confidential internal emails, with the apparent goal of bringing him down.