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News: Front Office Feud Explodes, McDonough Takes Legal Action Against Cardinals And Owner
Terry McDonough, a former employee of the Cardinals, recently had his arbitration lawsuit against the organization and owner Michael Bidwill end. The Cardinals’ declaration against him from his prior charges last year resulted in an award of $3M, and as a result, the case might now move forward in court.
According to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, McDonough has filed a lawsuit against the Cardinals, Bidwill, the independent PR company Counterpoint Strategies, and other parties. Following an NFL arbitrator’s decision that the team’s statement against McDonough was “false and defamatory,” punitive damages, damages for emotional anguish, and reputational harm were awarded. This is the reason for the lawsuit.
The Cardinals responded to the situation by saying, “We are aware of the complaint but have no additional comment as it is an active legal matter” (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk). Due to the Cardinals’ January 2023 dismissal of McDonough, the arbitration case against Bidwill and the team did not result in damages.
McDonough claimed that the decision, which terminated his ten-year tenure with the team as a high-ranking executive, was retaliation for his opposition to the use of burner phones by head coach Steve Wilks and general manager Steve Keim, who had been suspended at the time (among other allegations). There seems to be a link between this most recent McDonough development and the latter’s own legal circumstances.
According to Arizona Football Daily’s Mike Jurecki, McDonough intends to carry on with his legal action until Wilks is successful in proving his role in the continuing racial discrimination complaint launched by Brian Flores.
Wilks joined the case as a complainant to make the case for wrongful termination resulting from his firing in 2018 after just one season as the Cardinals’ head coach. While Wilks’ claims will be put to the test in arbitration, some aspects of the lawsuit will be permitted to advance in public court.
Will McDonough was the mentor of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, as noted by Jurecki (who has stated that other former Cardinals staff members also earned awards in addition to McDonough). That might provide Will’s son Terry McDonough direct access to Goodell, increasing his chances of getting paid more by the Cardinals.
