by Kevin BlackistoneFiled under: NFL, Sports Business and MediaLittle time passed between the moment TV reporter Ines Sainz tweeted Saturday about how uncomfortable some Jets' coaches and players made her feel, as she attempted to do her job interviewing Mark Sanchez, and the initiation of an investigation by the Jets' brass and the NFL into her complaint.
Jets owner Woody Johnson (pictured below) reached out immediately to Sainz in apology, promised that he would get to the bottom of it and issued a statement decrying any boorish behavior toward women in the locker room. League spokesman Greg Aiello stated Sunday that commissioner Roger Goodell wanted to know all the facts.
That was a far cry from what happened 20 years ago this week when my colleague Lisa Olson suffered derision in the Patriots' locker room aimed at her gender. The Patriots owner at the time crudely dismissed her complaint. The league finally got around to looking into what happened to her, which resulted in a voluminous report damning the behavior of some Patriots, particularly Zeke Mowatt, who was fined for his abhorrent behavior.
So if there is a positive to be taken from the still-unfolding Sainz story, it is that some people -- those most responsible for selling America's pastime to more sports fans, especially women, than any sport in our country -- were reminded of something rather fundamental in this country: Sexual harassment and discrimination has no place in our workplaces. Both, in fact, are against the law. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
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