Cowboys pay millions in settlement following cheerleaders' voyeurism allegations
The alleged events took place in 2015.
Members of the iconic Dallas Cowboys cheerleading squad made some disturbing allegations against longtime Cowboys boys senior vice president for public relations and communications Rich Dalrymple, who retired earlier in the month after 32 years with the franchise.
Four women alleged that Dalrymple filmed them changing in their locker room while standing behind a partial wall following an event at AT&T Stadium in 2015. Of course, Dalrymple had also been accused of taking upskirt photographs of team senior Vice President Charlotte Jones Anderson, who also happens to be the daughter of team owner and general manager Jerry Jones.
Dalrymple didn't deny entering the cheerleaders locker room, but stated that he didn't know anyone was in the room at the time and left immediately.
"People who know me, co-workers, the media and colleagues, know who I am and what I'm about," Dalrymple said in his statement. "I understand the very serious nature of these claims and do not take them lightly. The accusations are, however, false. One was accidental and the other simply did not happen. Everything that was alleged was thoroughly investigated years ago, and I cooperated fully."
While the Cowboys said there was no evidence that any videos or pictures were taken, they didn't deny that Dalrymple used his access card to enter the cheerleaders' locker room while they were changing.
"The organization took these allegations extremely seriously and moved immediately to thoroughly investigate this matter," said Jim Wilkinson, a communications consultant for the team. "The investigation was handled consistent with best legal and HR practices and the investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing."
"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," Wilkinson's statement continued. "Everyone involved felt just terrible about this unfortunate incident.”
Dalrymple was issued a formal warning by the team in October of 2015.
While the identity of the cheerleaders in question has not been publicly revealed, one former member of the squad said that the incident became common knowledge.
"It hurt my heart because I know how much it affected the people who were involved," the former cheerleader said. "It was a very ... shut the book, don't talk about it, this person is going to stay in his position ... They just made it go away."
