Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL and its teams on Tuesday, alleging the league has not only engaged in discriminatory hiring practices against Black candidates for coaching and front office vacancies, but has also conducted sham interviews under the pretense of following the Rooney Rule.
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The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York, alleges the NFL and its teams to have violated Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 ; the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination; the New York State Human Rights Law; and the New York City Human Rights Law.
Flores, listed as the plaintiff, claims to act on behalf of more than 40 members of the proposed class: "all Black head coach, offensive and defensive coordinators and quarterbacks coaches, as well as general managers and black candidates for those positions."
The allegations
Flores, who was fired following the 2021 season despite leading Miami to back-to-back winning campaigns, claims in his suit that the NFL and its teams act like a "plantation" in which the 32 teams — none of whose owners are Black — profit from the labor of a league that is 70 percent Black. Flores' complaint also claims the league refuses to adequately address "racism, particularly when it comes to the hiring and retention of Black head coaches, coordinators and general managers."Vaillante streaming, Super-héros malgré lui streaming, Les Jeunes amants streaming, Arthur Rambo streaming, Vanille streaming, Red Rocket streaming
Specifically, Flores alleges that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross asked him to "tank" the Dolphins during the 2019 season to improve the team's draft position to secure the No. 1 overall choice (which ultimately went to the Bengals, who used their position to select quarterback Joe Burrow from LSU). Flores also alleged Ross offered him $100,000 for every loss that year.
"Then, when the Dolphins started winning games, due in no small part to Mr. Flores’ coaching, Mr. Flores was told by the team’s General Manager, Chris Grier, that 'Steve' was 'mad' that Mr. Flores’ success in winning games that year was 'compromising (the team’s) draft position.'"
Flores' lawsuit also alleges Ross asked him to violate league tampering rules following the 2019 season to recruit a 'prominent quarterback' — reportedly Tom Brady , who was set to enter free agency — to play for the Dolphins. Flores alleges that, after "he repeatedly refused to comply with these improper directives," Ross invited him to lunch on a yacht where the unnamed quarterback “conveniently” arrived in the same marina. Flores "refused the meeting and left the yacht immediately."
After the incident, the complaint says that "Flores was treated with disdain and held out as someone who was noncompliant and difficult to work with" and that Ross to treat him with "disdain" for the remainder of the Flores' tenure.
Flores also alleged the Broncos and Giants of conducting "sham" interviews with him in 2019 and '21, respectively.
Flores claimed then-Broncos general manager John Elway and team president/CEO Joe Ellis and others showed up an hour late to a 2019 interview "completely disheveled, and it was obvious that they had drinking (sic) heavily the night before. It was clear from the substance of the interview that Mr. Flores was interviewed only because of the Rooney Rule, and that the Broncos never had any intention to consider him as a legitimate candidate for the job."
As part of his lawsuit, Flores included a purported screenshot of a text message with Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who seemingly mistook Flores for Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. Belichick — thinking he was speaking to Daboll — congratulated Flores for getting the job, three days Flores was to interview with the Giants.