NFL and 3 Teams Named In Major Lawsuit Regarding Racial Discrimination
Brian Flores was fired last month, despite leading the Miami Dolphins to back-to-back winning seasons as head coach. Source: Miami Times
On February 1st, former Miami Dolphins head coach filed a class action lawsuit against the National Football League (NFL), New York Giants, Miami Dolphins, and Denver Broncos due to alleged racial discrimination in the coach hiring process. Since then, the lawsuit has sent waves across the sports world as it challenges the NFL just two weeks prior to the Super Bowl.
Flores coached the Dolphins from the 2019 season through the 2021 season. The Dolphins also posted winning records during the last two seasons, going 10-6 and 9-8 respectively. On January 10th, or in NFL terms “Black Monday,” Flores was fired. This move was seen as puzzling by many NFL insiders as the Dolphins had a winning record and had won 8 of their last 9 games. Regardless, the Dolphins moved on and began their new head coaching search.
In addition to alleging racially discriminatory practices, the suit also alleges that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered Flores bonus payments in 2019 for losing games. Losing games would boost the team’s draft position, and thus give them the opportunity to select a better player. Furthermore, Flores said he was offered $100k for each loss in 2019 and pressured to recruit a quarterback from another team. So, the lawsuit additionally strikes at the heart of the competitive nature of the NFL and challenges the integrity of the game.
Still, the most eye opening and pressing information presented in the lawsuit involves Flores’ experience as a coaching candidate. Flores was scheduled to interview for the Giants head coaching vacancy on Jan. 27th — but before this meeting he received a text from Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
Belichick texted Flores congratulating him on winning the Giants job… but Flores had yet to interview. Flores asked Belichick if he had meant to text Brian Daboll, another head coaching candidate. Belichick acknowledged the mistake, but the text revealed that Flores had not been truly considered for the job. Rather, as Flores alleges, he was being interviewed out of compliance with the Rooney Rule. The Giants ultimately hired Daboll.
Texts Between Flores and Belichick. Source: Yahoo
The Rooney Rule requires NFL teams to interview at least two minority candidates for head coaching positions and one for coordinator openings. This rule is supposed to foster and promote inclusive hiring practices as minorities have generally been less successful at landing prominent coaching positions. Flores alleges he has been through multiple “sham” interviews where he was only interviewed to satisfy the rule rather than have his coaching talents evaluated.
The lawsuit also notes that in the past 20 years only 15 of 129 head coaching positions have been filled by Black candidates. Additionally, it notes that Black coaches are 3.5x more likely to be fired when their team has a winning record. Likewise, the suit also details additional figures on how the Rooney Rule has been ineffective and Black coaches are seemingly held to higher performance standards.
All in all, the Flores lawsuit looks to address several things in the NFL. Flores specifically wants the NFL to address its hiring practices by increasing the influence of Black individuals in the process, increase the “objectivity” of terminating and hiring high level coaching jobs, increase the number of Black coordinators, and more.
Lawyers for Flores have stated that they are looking for other coaches who could join the lawsuit, as it is a class action suit. All defendants in the suit have denied the allegations. The three NFL clubs listed similarly used strong language to deny Flores’ allegations. The NFL responded on Feb. 1st stating the allegations are “without merit” — but on Feb. 5th reported they would review their diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. Likewise, NFL insiders anticipate that the NFL will launch an investigation into the claims that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross incentivized Flores to lose on purpose.
Though the lawsuit was just recently filed, this story will likely be newsworthy for months, if not years to come. The allegations are serious and Flores has brought forward substantial evidence. There is no question that racial discrimination in hiring processes is a hot topic amongst the American public. In the US political sphere, there are major events beginning to unfold regarding race and hiring — as well as college admissions.
For one, the Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a case which challenges affirmative action in UNC-CH’s admissions process. Furthermore, with the looming retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, a partisan political fight regarding race and merit is brewing on Capitol Hill. President Biden stated, given the opportunity, he would nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court. Republican opponents have expressed disdain for limiting potential replacements.
Regardless, the Flores lawsuit underscores the presence of racial issues and race politics in all corners of American pop culture. The suit may have greater implications for the country as the NFL garners enormous interest from the public. Litigation is not near but this story will likely remain in the news cycle for some time.