Arizona Cardinals ordered to pay former executive $3M for defamation

An NFL arbitrator has ordered the Arizona Cardinals to pay $3 million to former executive Terry McDonough for “false and defamatory” statements the team made about him to the media, per Tisha Thompson of ESPN.

The decision was filed in federal court on Monday by McDonough’s attorney, Mike Caspino, Thompson reported.

Jeffrey Mishkin, the arbitrator appointed by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, determined that the Cardinals and team owner Michael Bidwill defamed McDonough “with malice.” The Cardinals sent a multi-page statement to media organizations accusing McDonough of spousal abuse and neglect of his disabled adult daughter. McDonough has denied all of the allegations.

Mishkin dismissed McDonough’s additional claims of unlawful retaliation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy. 

Caspino issued the following statement:

“Despite what we consider to be a fundamentally unfair arbitration process, Terry McDonough is the first person ever to win against an NFL owner,” Caspino said. “Why the NFL has not held Michael Bidwill accountable remains a mystery.”

Cardinals respond to NFL arbitrator’s ruling

McDonough, who started working for the Cardinals in 2013, was relieved of his duties as vice president of player personnel in January 2023. His dismissal came three months before he filed the arbirtration complaint.

McDonough claimed that the team and Bidwill retaliated against him after he expressed his discomfort in the team using burner phones to communicate with then-general manager Steve Keim, whom Bidwill had suspended for extreme DUI. Mishkin found that the Cardinals did use burner phones. The did not, however, find evidence of McDonough’s allegation that Arizona’s actions prevented him from being hired as a general manager elsewhere in the NFL.

“We are pleased with the arbitrator’s decision dismissing all of Terry McDonough’s employment claims and finding that there was nothing improper about his dismissal from the team,” the Cardinals said in a statement. “As for Mr. McDonough’s other claim, we respect the arbitrator’s determination that our initial statement went too far. We accept responsibility for that statement and are grateful that the arbitration is now resolved.”

McDonough sought $15 million in lost future earnings, $10 million for emotional distress, $10 million for reputational harm and $60 to $90 million in punitive damages, according to the arbirtration ruling. Mishkin awarded McDonough $150,000 in damages for harm to his reputation, $600,000 in damages for emotional distress and $2.25 million in punitive damages.