Former Arizona Cardinals Vice President Terry McDonough has accused owner Michael Bidwill of cheating and creating a hostile work environment.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Tuesday’s episode of NFL Live that McDonough filed an arbitration claim to the league. In the claim, Schefter said, McDonough accused his former employer of “cheating, discrimination, and harassment.”
“It’s a long, detailed petition in which he spells out all the ways in which he believes Michael Bidwill has done wrong,” Schefter said, “including using burner phones during the suspension of former Cardinals General Manager Steve Keim.”
In 2018, Keim was fined and suspended for five weeks for a DUI. McDonough claims Bidwill “hatched a plan” for members of the organization to keep in contact with Keim while he was serving his suspension.
Additionally, McDonough alleged that Bidwill created a hostile work environment by bullying employees. He claimed they “lived in fear” under him.
“(McDonough) said that there was a survey done at one point in time to conduct, essentially, what was the workplace environment,” Schefter continued. “McDonough claimed that Michael Bidwell had that survey intercepted and canceled when he realized the majority of the employees were saying that they worked in fear of him.”
The Cardinals, according to Schefter, have denied the claims and said the organization’s workplace environment has improved. Bidwell has also called the claims “baseless.”
It’s not the first time the organization has found itself at the center of controversy in recent months. When the team was in Mexico for its game against the San Francisco 49ers, offensive line coach Sean Kugler allegedly groped a woman. He was promptly fired.
When McDonough filed the arbitration claim, he included a number of correspondences he believes prove the allegations. He also reached out to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell directly.
“He even texted Roger Goodell this afternoon,” Schefter said, “saying, ‘I have all the truth and it will all come out during arbitration.'”
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