Fox News Flash top headlines for July 16
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“Riverboat” Ron Rivera, the new head coach of the NFL’s embattled Washington Redskins, is asking for patience as the team looks to transform itself following bombshell sexual harassment allegations and as it literally searches for its new identity after committing to shedding its controversial name.
“We’re trying to create a new culture here,” he told the Washington Post, which broke the news of the allegations. “We’re hoping to get people to understand that they need to judge us on where we are and where we’re going – as opposed to where we’ve been.”
After the report was published, Rivera told ESPN’s John Keim that the team’s new direction would involve reforming the culture from within.
15 FEMALE EX-REDSKINS EMPLOYEES ALLEGE SEXUAL HARASSMENT, BOMBSHELL REPORT SAYS
“Biggest thing is that we have to move forward from this and make sure everybody understands we have policies that we will follow and that we have an open door policy with no retribution,” he said. "Plus my daughter works for the team and I sure as hell am not going to allow any of this.”
Team owner Dan Snyder hired a local law firm to review the team’s culture and conduct amid in response to allegations of sexual harassment leveled by more than a dozen female former employees of the team.
The announcement came after the paper published a story Thursday detailing allegations from 15 women who said they were sexually harassed or inappropriately treated when they were employed by the Redskins.
None of the women accused Snyder or former team president Bruce Allen of inappropriate behavior, according to the newspaper. But they reportedly believed that both men must have known about the issues.
Snyder and Allen declined interview requests, according to the Post – but at least three team employees implicated by the women departed the organization over the past few weeks during the reporting of the story.
WASHINGTON REDSKINS FIRE TWO KEY SCOUTING EMPLOYEES: REPORT
Rivera, who did speak with the paper, did not discuss the dismissals of two of them. The third had reportedly retired hours after the Post informed club officials about allegations against him.
"The Washington Redskins football team takes issues of employee conduct seriously," the team said in a statement. "While we do not speak to specific employee situations publicly, when new allegations of conduct are brought forward that are contrary to these policies, we address them promptly."
According to the report, the team also moved to bolster its human resources department last year.
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And the NFL franchise is also searching for a new name and logo after major sponsors have begun pushing for the change after years of criticism.
Fox News’ Daniel Canova and The Associated Press contributed to this report.