Jon Gruden. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

NFL scores big win in legal battle with ex-Raiders head coach

By Michael Gallagher | Last updated 5/14/24

Former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden’s quest to use his lawsuit against the NFL to “burn the house down” hit a snag on Tuesday.

The Nevada State Supreme Court ruled that Gruden is ineligible to sue the NFL and that his case must go to league arbitration, where the NFL will essentially control every part of the hearing and the details of the case won’t be made public, instead of continuing in a court of law.

Until Tuesday’s ruling, Gruden had won all of his court motions against the league.

BREAKING: The NFL has prevailed in its appeal in former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden's civil case. In a majority decision, the Nevada State Supreme Court has overruled the district court and the case will sent back down to be remanded to arbitration. @FOS story… pic.twitter.com/zHViCauLck
— A.J. Perez (@byajperez) May 14, 2024

The NFL maintained that Gruden’s grievance was subject to arbitration because he agreed to such when he signed a 10-year, $100 million contract to coach the Raiders in 2019.

Gruden argued that since he’s no longer employed by the NFL and accepted a settlement from the Raiders, that he should no longer be bound by that provision.

“When Gruden entered into his contract with the Raiders — the richest coaching contract in NFL history — he agreed to two broad arbitration provisions that cover all disputes arising out of his employment agreement or involving conduct detrimental to the league,” the NFL’s lawyer argued during the hearing, via Front Office Sports.

Gruden was suing the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell, claiming they were behind a hit job against him that cost him his career as a coach and other “future employment prospects and endorsement opportunities.”

Gruden alleged that Goodell was the source of leaked emails to the New York Times in which Gruden used misogynistic, racist and anti-LGBTQ language between 2011 and 2018 when he worked as an analyst for ESPN, which caused him to lose his job with the Raiders.

It was later speculated in a congressional report released last December that the emails were actually leaked by the Washington Commanders.

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