An NFL arbitrator has ruled that the Arizona Cardinals must pay $3 million to former executive Terry McDonough for making “false and defamatory” statements about him to the media. The decision was filed in federal court on Monday, per ESPN’s Tisha Thompson.
In a 62-page decision dated March 29, Jeffrey Mishkin, the arbitrator appointed by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, found that the Cardinals and their owner, Michael Bidwill, defamed Terry McDonough “with malice” in a multipage statement to media organizations.
The statement accused McDonough of “extreme domestic violence” and alleged that he “abandoned responsibility” for his daughter and “cut her off financially.”
McDonough's attorney, Mike Caspino, submitted the decision to U.S. District Court in Arizona on Monday as part of McDonough's request to the court to confirm the award.
The former executive was awarded $2.25 million for punitive damages, $600,000 for emotional distress, and $150,000 for harm to reputation in the decision filed with the federal court on Monday and obtained by The Associated Press.
Terry McDonough, the first person win against an NFL owner
“Despite what we consider to be a fundamentally unfair arbitration process, Terry McDonough is the first person ever to win against an NFL owner,” Caspino said via a statement obtained by ESPN.
“Why the NFL has not held Michael Bidwill accountable remains a mystery.”
The Cardinals expressed satisfaction with the arbitrator's decision, stating that all of McDonough's employment claims were dismissed and there were no issues with his dismissal from the team. They acknowledged the arbitrator's finding that their initial statement was excessive and accepted responsibility for it, expressing gratitude that the arbitration process has concluded.
Mishkin dismissed McDonough's additional claims of unlawful retaliation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy. McDonough had initiated the arbitration claim against the team in April, asserting that Bidwill and the team retaliated against him after he expressed discomfort with the Cardinals' use of burner phones to communicate with then-general manager Steve Keim, whom Bidwill had suspended due to extreme DUI.
Keim, on the other hand, testified that McDonough “actually was the one to first suggest the use of the burner phones” during his suspension.
Arbitrator's findings
The arbitrator’s decision deemed the statements made by the team, with the assistance of crisis communications firm CounterPoint Strategies, as “false and defamatory.” This was based on McDonough and his wife's testimony, which went unchallenged, asserting that McDonough had never engaged in domestic violence or abuse and had not abandoned financial responsibility for his daughter.
Mishkin also wrote in his ruling that “McDonough has presented no evidence that he was relieved of his duties because of his objection to the burner phones. To the contrary, the overwhelming evidence suggests that Mr. McDonough was relieved of his duties as a result of a staffing decision made by the Cardinals’ new general manager Monti Ossenfort.”
The arbitrator determined that the team did use burner phones, but he did not support McDonough's claim that the Cardinals' actions hindered his chances of being hired as a general manager in the league. While McDonough was a finalist for the San Francisco 49ers' GM job in 2017, Mishkin noted that he did not have any interviews for GM positions thereafter.
Bidwill had previously denied the Cardinals' liability for any claims made by McDonough in a demand for arbitration, attributing McDonough's “erratic behavior” to have eventually harmed his career. The team referenced multiple instances of what they deemed to be McDonough's volatile behavior, including a text exchange where he apologized to Bidwill after a confrontation.
McDonough served in the Cardinals' front office for 10 seasons, holding various roles including several years as the vice president of player personnel.
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