Terry McDonough Files Lawsuit Against Cardinals Owner Bidwill After $3M Ruling

Former Arizona Cardinals executive Terry McDonough filed a lawsuit against owner Michael Bidwill and several others for defamatory statements made in a press release last year.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported the lawsuit was designed to avoid any claims by the NFL that the situation was settled in arbitration. On Friday, an NFL arbitrator found the Cardinals made "false and malicious statements" in last year's press release and gave McDonough a $3 million judgment.

"Despite what we consider to be a fundamentally unfair arbitration process, Terry McDonough is the first person ever to win against an NFL owner," McDonough's attorney, Mike Caspino, said in a statement Monday. "Why the NFL has not held Michael Bidwill accountable remains a mystery."

The arbitrator dismissed McDonough's claims of unlawful retaliation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy. The Cardinals released a statement saying they were "pleased" with the dismissal of those charges but acknowledged their "initial statement went too far."

McDonough claimed he was retaliated against internally by Bidwill after he pushed back on a scheme to use burner phones to circumvent a five-week suspension being served by then-general manager Steve Keim in 2018.

The NFL arbitrator found the Cardinals did use burner phones to communicate during that time period, but found McDonough's hesitance did not result in his missing job opportunities internally or elsewhere.

In his lawsuit, McDonough names Bidwill, the Cardinals, public relations firm Counterpoint Strategies, executive Jim McCarthy, the law firm of Gallagher & Kennedy and lawyer Donald Peder Johnson. The lawsuit accuses McCarthy, Bidwill and the law firm of seeking to "dig up dirt" on him and ruin his reputation, per Florio.

"During his first meeting with Johnsen and Bidwill. McCarthy stated that it was his objective to find information about Terry McDonough that would support allegations of domestic violence, rampant infidelity, illicit drug use, drunk driving and other unlawful activities," the lawsuit reads.

The Cardinals' statement last year accused McDonough of domestic violence against his wife and abandonment of his daughter. Those statements were later proved false in arbitration. McDonough's wife and daughter are included in the plaintiffs in the new lawsuit.

The NFL has not punished Bidwill for his actions.