Ex-Panthers employee shares harassing notes she says Richardson wrote
A woman who says Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson sexually harassed her has shared handwritten notes she says he sent her while she was an employee of the team.
Images of the letters can be viewed at Sports Illustrated; they're transcribed in italics below.
Sports Illustrated offered the Panthers and Richardson's personal attorneys a chance to review the notes and verify whether or not it was his handwriting, but didn't receive any response.
Letter 1:
The week before we play New England please do the following:
① manicure
② pedicure
③ facial
④ hair stuff
⑤ wear lip gloss
I want all of us to be at our best that week-end
Letter 2:
If I could ... I'd pamper you more. Rub your feet. Shave your legs. Put lotion on your body - etc, etc
Letter 3:
You did not answer my questions - Do you think of me as:
① your grandfather
② your second father
③ your second husband
④ your friend
⑤ your boyfriend
⑥ or something else -
I regret I have never been able to give you pleasure –
All three notes are signed with a heart at the end.
Richardson, 81, is in the process of selling the Panthers. He announced the sale after reports surfaced describing his workplace misconduct.
On the Sports Illustrated platform, the woman also wrote her own letters to Richardson, Panthers coach Ron Rivera and other "enablers" of the harassment, the NFL, and Houston Texans owner Bob McNair, who defended Richardson.
The Panthers responded to the entire post on Sports Illustrated with a statement:
"Since December 2017, when we commenced an internal investigation into allegations of workplace misconduct, the organization has taken the appropriate steps to remediate any misconduct and ensure a safe and comfortable work environment. These claims are very serious and we have cooperated with the NFL’s investigation and remain fully committed to improving every facet of our organization. Because this matter continues to be under an ongoing legal review, we will not comment publicly on the specifics of the allegations, but we do feel compelled to establish what we are doing to provide a healthy work environment.
Tina Becker was named COO in December, and immediately began working towards addressing the issues. The team allocated significant resources towards reforming our workplace, restructured executive responsibilities and added a comprehensive training program on harassment and diversity and inclusion issues. We have overhauled our related policies and procedures, including improvements in our reporting to the league, all to make certain that employees who have a concern have multiple ways to report those concerns and can feel comfortable doing so. We have instituted several new employee programs, all aimed at creating an environment in which our staff can feel proud to work."