Hearing On Jon Gruden-NFL Email Lawsuit Set For May 25

The NFL's legal battle against former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden is in motion.

Gruden, a critic of the NFL commissioner, filed a lawsuit claiming that the leaking of 650,000 emails selectively targeted the coach and pushed him to resign based on an NFL investigation. He left the Raiders on Oct. 11 after facing backlash for the findings. The emails entailed language by Gruden deemed "homophobic" and crude.

The first case hearing between Gruden and the NFL is set to take place on May 25 before Judge Nancy Allf of the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County, Nevada — as relayed by ESPN.

"The NFL on Jan. 19 filed the motion to dismiss, as well as to compel arbitration against Gruden's lawsuits in which he is seeking 'the recovery of money in excess of $15,000.00,'" the report adds.

The coach contended that the arbitration clause in his contract only affects litigation against the Raiders, not the League itself.

Gruden filed his lawsuit against Goodell and the NFL in the Eighth Judicial District Court on Nov. 12, 

After Raiders owner Mark Davis lost his head coach midway through the season, he also began to question the timing of the emails and the lack of an investigation into the remaining leaked messages.

Attorney Adam Hosmer-Henner summed up the lawsuit.

"he defendants selectively leaked Gruden's private correspondence to the Wall Street Journal and New York Times in order to harm Gruden's reputation and force him out of his job," he announced in a statement.

"There is no explanation or justification for why Gruden's emails were the only ones made public out of the 650,000 emails collected in the NFL's investigation of the Washington Football Team or for why the emails were held for months before being released in the middle of the Raiders' season."

Gruden signed a 10-year, $100 million deal with Las Vegas in 2018. The two sides settled on the remaining figures, which guaranteed $40 million for Gruden over his exit.

Follow along on Twitter: @AlejandroAveela