NFL arbitrator orders Cardinals to pay former executive nearly $3 million in damages

An NFL arbitrator ordered the Arizona Cardinals to pay nearly $3 million to former team executive Terry McDonough for making "false and defamatory" statements about him to the media.

Jeffrey Mishkin, the arbitrator appointed by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, determined the Cardinals defamed McDonough in a CounterPoint Statement that accused him of "extreme domestic violence" and claimed he "abandoned responsibility" for his daughter and "cut her off financially."

McDonough was awarded $2.25 million for punitive damages, $600,000 in damages for emotional distress and $150,000 in damages for harm to reputation in a decision filed to federal count on Monday and obtained by The Associated Press.

McDonough’s claims for unlawful retaliation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy were dismissed. He sought up to $125 million in total damages.

"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."

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - DECEMBER 24: A detail of an Arizona Cardinals helmet prior to the game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on December 24, 2023, in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

McDonough filed the arbitration claim against the Cardinals last April accusing owner Michael Bidwill of cheating. McDonough claimed he was eventually demoted after he objected to a scheme that would involve the use of "burner phones" to circumvent the 2018 suspension of then-GM Steve Keim, who had been arrested for DUI.

Keim, however, testified that McDonough "actually was the one to first suggest the use of the burner phones" during his suspension.

"McDonough has presented no evidence that he was relieved of his duties because of his objection to the burner phones," Mishkin wrote in his ruling. "To the contrary, the overwhelming evidence suggests that Mr. McDonough was relieved of his duties as a result of a staffing decision made by the Cardinals’ new general manager Monti Ossenfort."

McDonough testified that New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas and Baltimore Ravens GM Eric DeCosta informed him "they would love to hire" him, but "under the circumstances of what happened they can’t."

Mishkin noted that McDonough described Douglas and DeCosta as his best friends, but called neither to testify on his behalf.

He ruled that McDonough "failed to prove he would have obtained even a lower-ranking, non-general manager position" had the Cardinals not published the CounterPoint Statement.

Bidwill previously denied the Cardinals are liable for any claims McDonough made against the team in a demand for arbitration, saying his "erratic behavior eventually damaged his career." The team cited several instances of what it said was McDonough’s volatile behavior, including a text exchange in which he apologized to Bidwill for a confrontation.