The Dallas Cowboys quietly paid $2.4 million to several cheerleaders who accused a former top team official of voyeurism, according to a published report on Wednesday.
The women accused Richard Dalrymple, former Cowboys senior vice president for public relations and communications, of slipping into their dressing room at AT&T Stadium in 2015, ESPN reported, citing documents obtained by the sports network and people with knowledge of the situation.
One of the accusing cheerleaders said she spotted Dalrymple behind a partial wall with his iPhone extended toward them as the women were changing clothes, the sports network reported, citing letters from attorneys for the cheerleaders to the team.
The team official got into the dressing room via a back entrance and his security key card, ESPN reported the accusers saying.
The news outlet reported the settlement was made in May 2016 after the cheerleaders had gone to the team’s human resources department before hiring attorneys.
A team source confirmed the details of the settlement to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.
Dalrymple retired earlier this month, but didn’t make any mention of sexual misconduct allegations.
Cowboys spokesman Jim Wilkinson said in a statement to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth that the team understood the gravity of the allegations, calling it an “unfortunate incident.”
“The organization took these allegations extremely seriously and moved immediately to thoroughly investigate this matter. The investigation was handled consistent with best legal and HR practices and the investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing,” he said.
Wilkinson added: “If any wrongdoing had been found Rich would have been terminated immediately. The cheerleaders are a vital part of the Dallas Cowboys family, and in terms of the settlement, the organization wanted to go above and beyond to ensure the cheerleaders knew that their allegations had been taken extremely seriously, and immediately and thoroughly investigated. Everyone involved felt just terrible about this unfortunate incident.”
NBC News could not immediately reach lawyers for the cheerleaders or a representative for Dalrymple on Thursday.
In a statement to ESPN, Dalrymple denied the allegations.
“People who know me, co-workers, the media and colleagues, know who I am and what I’m about,” the statement said. “I understand the very serious nature of these claims and do not take them lightly. The accusations are, however, false.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
