Ventrelle: Raiders fired me for raising concerns

Dan Ventrelle, whose abrupt departure as Las Vegas Raiders team president was announced in a statement by owner Mark Davis on Friday, released his own statement later, alleging he was fired in retaliation for bringing concerns by multiple employees about hostile workplace conditions within the organization to the NFL.

“I take that responsibility very seriously, which is why multiple written complaints from employees that Mark [Davis] created a hostile work environment and engaged in other potential misconduct caused me grave concern,” Ventrelle said in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “When Mark was confronted about these issues he was dismissive and did not demonstrate the warranted level of concern.

“Soon thereafter, I was fired in retaliation for raising these concerns. I firmly stand by my decision to elevate these issues to protect the organization and its female employees.”

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Ventrelle added that he’s retained counsel and would not provide further comment at this time.

The Raiders did not say why Ventrelle was let go when they announced his departure earlier Friday. They had no comment on Ventrelle’s statement.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league “recently became aware of these allegations and take them very seriously. We will promptly look into the matter.”

Ventrelle’s departure continues a certain sense of palace intrigue within the Raiders organization as it has undergone massive upheaval since moving to Las Vegas from Oakland in 2020.

Ventrelle was named the team’s full-time president following the 2021 season after taking over on an interim basis when Marc Badain resigned last July. Ventrelle previously served as the team’s executive vice president and general counsel and had been with the team for 18 years.

Badain cited family, the completion of Allegiant Stadium and the desire for new pursuits after being with the team since 1991 as reasons for his resignation.

In addition, the Raiders also saw the business-side departures of chief financial officer Ed Villanueva, senior vice president of Strategy and Business Development Brandon Doll and controller Araxie Grant last summer.

On the football side of things, coach Jon Gruden, who had signed a 10-year contract in 2018, resigned on Oct. 11, in the wake of his email scandal. General manager Mike Mayock, hired in 2019, was let go in January.

Davis then hired coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler.

Jeremy Aguero on Thursday resigned as the Raiders’ chief operations and analytics officer after just seven months, he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

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