Brian Flores sues NFL, teams, as former Miami Dolphins coach alleges racism in hiring practices

[Auggie]

NEW YORK -- Fired Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores sued the NFL and three of its teams Tuesday, saying racist hiring practices by the league have left it racially segregated and managed like a plantation.

The lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court sought class-action status and unspecified damages from the league, the Dolphins, the Denver Broncos and the New York Giants, along with unidentified individuals.

SNIP

The lawsuit alleged that the league has discriminated against Flores and other Black coaches for racial reasons, denying them positions as head coaches, offensive and defensive coordinators and quarterbacks coaches, as well as general managers.

SNIP

The complaint includes text messages from Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who congratulated Flores on getting hired by the Giants when he hadn't yet interviewed.

MORE: https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33194862/brian-flores-sues-nfl-others-former-miami-dolphins-coach-alleges-racism-hiring-practices

FROM THE LINK: The complaint asks for "injunctive relief," or directives, that Flores says he believes will "effectuate real change for the future." Among them:

• Increase influence of Black individuals in hiring

• Increase the objectivity of hiring/terminating GMs, head coaches and coordinators

• Increase the number of Black coordinators

• Incentivize hiring/retention of Black GMs, head coaches and coordinators

• Transparency of pay for GMs, head coaches and coordinators

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[brush]

1. This is a "Curt Flood" move for Brian Flores. My hat is off to him...

as this will probably assure that he won't be hired this particular off season but it will help others. This suit might very well put a spotlight on the NFL and it's ol' boy network of owners who so often recycle fired white coaches, coordinators and GMs over and over again.

80 some percent of NFL players are Black, and that's not a new ratio, and it stands to reason that those who have played and excelled at the game would be good coaches/teachers of the game.

Flores should've been one of the first coaches hired in this off-season round of coaching vacancies as he took the lowly Miami Dolphins from the perennial losers to two straight winning seasons.

[tishaLA]

2. I read most of the filing and OMG

he uses both Gruden *and* Kaepernick against them.

He alleges that Ross offered him $100,000 for each game he lost so the Dolphins could get better draft position(!) and that Ross tried to set up a "chance meeting" between Flores and another team's "prominent" QB (in other words, "tamper&quot to lure him to the team. When Flores said no, the Dolphins started its whisper campaign to treat him as difficult to get along with, an angry black man, blah blah blah.

So good for him. He'll probably never work in the NFL again, but between Flores and Gruden's lawsuits, it looks like the league's dirty laundry is going to be aired.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. The Dolphins Being Included Confuses Me

They DID give him an opportunity. They DO have a black GM.
They fraud that is the Rooney Rule has solved nothing. One black coach out of 32 is ridiculous. The fact that 5 of the last 6 coaches to be fired after posting a winning record were black is huge.
But, the Dolphins aren't part of THAT problem.
Maybe they're included for wrongful termination because he was fired for not dumping games, and that hardly feels like "cause."
But, what the Giants did was abysmal. Hiring a guy & conducting a fake interview to check off the Rooney box is pure rotten.
I'm on board with the anger toward the Broncos, but the "disheveled" & "hungover" description seems weird for a legal document. If his side can't prove that, (tough to do), they could damage his credibility.
Probably doesn't matter. They'll probably change league rules to add teeth, and settle monetarily.
The NFL wants this to go away, especially since Troy Vincent has done all he can, but with no consequences he's really just spitting into the wind.