Lawyer worried Dan Snyder got client names via NFL's probe

In a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday, an attorney for four dozen former Washington Commanders employees raised «serious concern» that the NFL violated «a very specific promise» of confidentiality that was made to her clients before they testified to investigators about Dan Snyder and the team's toxic workplace culture.

Lisa Banks, the Washington, D.C., lawyer, cited an ESPN report last week that the Commanders' lawyers used NFL investigator Beth Wilkinson's inquiry as a «tip sheet» to compile an «enemies list» that was used by Snyder's law firm to commission private investigations and «harass» her clients, including former team cheerleaders and other former employees.

«If true, this was in clear violation of a very specific promise the NFL made to our clients, through Ms. Wilkinson and her team, that witness names would be kept confidential and not shared with Mr. Snyder or the Washington Commanders,» Banks wrote in the letter to Goodell, which was cosigned by her law partner, Debra Katz, and obtained by ESPN.

Banks also threatened to sue the NFL. «If true, the 'tip sheet' allegation is not only morally reprehensible,» Banks wrote, «but it also provides the basis for us to take legal action against the NFL, which we will do given the serious harm caused to our clients by their reliance on the NFL's promises.»

Banks asked for a meeting with Goodell to discuss whether the «tip sheet» allegation is «unfounded.»

«If you ignore our request, as you have with our past requests to talk to you directly, we will assume that the reporting by Mr. Van Natta is true and we will move forward with formal legal action on behalf of our clients,» Banks wrote.

A Commanders spokesperson issued a statement Tuesday, calling