Why did the NFL want arbitration in Jon Gruden’s court case? NFL analyst explains strategy used by “most American businesses”

Former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden's case against the National Football League is heading to arbitration. The Nevada Supreme Court ruled 2-1 that the case will head to arbitration instead of open court.

NFL insider Mike Florio said on "Pro Football Talk" that he isn't surprised this is the route the NFL was in favor of taking. Florio said this is typically what businesses throughout the United States do as it keeps their business dealings private.

"And this is true for most American businesses, if not all American businesses. You'd rather go to arbitration than go to court for a couple of important reasons. First, if you do it in arbitration, you can keep it all secret. Nobody knows. There's no court filings. There's no open proceedings. Nobody knows what was said......Keep it all secret," said Mike Florio [00:05:37].

Florio also stated that businesses like the NFL know that a jury would be more inclined to favor the person who is suing them rather than the business. Florio continued:

"Instead of being accountable to individuals who might be more inclined to identify with the person who thinks they got screwed, then the company that did the screwing. Instead of that, you have a lawyer, retired lawyer, retired judge, you have one person who isn't going to be susceptible to the basic sympathies of a case, and is going to keep it within the letter of the law. The outcome is going to be less likely to blow the roof off of the balance sheets."

Jon Gruden is expected to appeal the decision by the Nevada Supreme Court as he strives to get his case in front of a jury.

Why is Jon Gruden suing the NFL?

In October 2021, Jon Gruden was forced to resign as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. This was after emails that he had sent from 2011 to 2018 to former Washington Commanders general manager Bruce Allen were leaked.

The emails allegedly contained comments about commissioner Roger Goodell as well as misogynistic, racist and homophobic slurs. Gruden's emails were discovered during an investigation into the Commanders' reported toxic workplace environment.

Jon Gruden is suing the NFL as he said that his career and reputation were destroyed through this scandal. He also believes that his emails were used as a scapegoat in the investigation and were illegally leaked.

Gruden coached just five games in the 2021 NFL season before he and Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis agreed it was best for him to resign.