It was supposed to happen last month. It finally happens next month.
More than two years after former Raiders coach Jon Gruden filed a lawsuit against the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell for allegedly leaking the emails that forced his departure, the Nevada Supreme Court will take up the question of whether the case should be sent to arbitration.
Via A.J. Perez of FrontOfficeSports.com, the hearing before a three-judge panel will happen on January 10. The hearing will be televised.
The issue is narrow. The league, as it does whenever it can, wants to move the case to a secret, rigged, kangaroo court that is run and resolved by the Commissioner or his designee. The league desperately does not want this case, which will eventually expose who leaked the Gruden emails to the media, to play out in a public forum.
Pushing the arbitration argument also fulfills the NFL’s other goal, whenever it is sued: Delay. Delay. And more delay.
The case, filed in November 2021, hasn’t even gotten going. It won’t get going unless and until Gruden’s argument against arbitration prevails.
If Gruden wins, the case will be handled by a new judge. Perez notes that Nancy Aliff will retire on January 11, after 13 years on the bench.
Perhaps 13 years from now, Gruden’s case will finally be resolved.