Brian Flores Pressures NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell To Clear away For Discrimination Lawsuit Go To Trial
Brian Flores, who is suing the NFL for discrimination in hiring coaches, wants commissioner Roger Goodell to forgo his right to settling the matter in arbitration and instead hash things out at trial.
According to ESPN, Flores said during a teleconference with lawmakers about the FAIR Act, which would end forced arbitration, “I think Commissioner Goodell has the influence to do what's right. I don't think you can create that change in a secret setting, a confidential setting. ... I think he has influence to make sure that [a jury trial] happens."
Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the Dolphins, the NFL and two other teams – the Denver Broncos and New York Giants – alleging he was discriminated against during his interview processes. According to ESPN, the 58-page lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court on February 1 and seeks class-action status. Flores, who is Black, alleges that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross tried to incentivize him to purposely lose games shortly after he was hired in 2019.
Flores says that as the team won games, Ross allegedly offered him $100,000 for every game he’d lose. Miami general manager Chris Grier told him that Ross was “mad” that Flores’ late-season winning was “compromising [the team’s] draft position.”
The suit also includes text messages he alleges are from New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick demonstrating that the Giants conducted an interview with Flores knowing they intended to hire someone else to be head coach and to comply with the Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview two minority coaches before making a final decision on a hire.
“While racial barriers have been eroded in many areas, Defendant the National Football League (“NFL” or the “League”) lives in a time of the past,” the lawsuit states. “As described throughout this Class Action Complaint, the NFL remains rife with racism, particularly when it comes to the hiring and retention of Black Head Coaches, Coordinators and General Managers.”
It continues, in-part: “Over the years, the NFL and its 32-member organizations (the “Teams”) have been given every chance to do the right thing. Rules have been implemented, promises made—but nothing has changed. In fact, the racial discrimination has only been made worse by the NFL’s disingenuous commitment to social equity.”
Since Flores filed his lawsuit, the Houston Texans hired former Tamba Bay and Chicago head coach Lovie Smith, a Black man, for their top job, and the Dolphins have hired Mike McDaniels, who said, “I identity as a human being and my dad’s Black.”
The Miami Dolphins have asked the case to go to an arbitrator last month, ESPN reports.
