Ex-Dolphins’ Brian Flores Suing NFL, Giants, Other Teams for Racial Hiring Practices
News - February 1, 2022
“Ex-Dolphins head coach Brian Flores sued the NFL and three of its franchises Tuesday afternoon, alleging racial hiring practices that have discriminated against black candidates, including himself, and prevented them from attaining head coaching, coordinator, position coach and even general manager positions, according to ESPN.
The lawsuit–seeking class-action status and implicating the Dolphins, Giants, Broncos, and unspecified individuals–described the NFL’s hiring practices as leaving the league “racially segregated and managed much like a plantation” and demanded several forms of “injunctive relief” aimed at “effectuating real change for the future”. An issue that many in the NFL community and sports world feel has gone improperly addressed for many years, Flores is now willing to risk his coaching career and future to fight for change against inequality in the league.
Flores also charged the NFL for undervaluing their largely African-American player, coach, and staffing base while the prestigious group of owners–all of them white–benefited financially from the dangerous work of their labor.
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His carousel of complaints didn’t stop with the league nor the Dolphins, Flores had significant charges laid down on the New York Giants organization as well. The 40-year-old alleged the Giants interviewed him–in what he called a “sham” meeting–for their head coaching vacancy only to cover their behinds from violating the NFL’s Rooney Rule, a policy established by the league in 2003 that requires teams to consider and interview at least one minority candidate for head coaching and senior front office personnel roles.”
On February 1, former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores opened up a bombshell lawsuit against the NFL alleging a handful of their franchises engaged in racial hiring practices. He was the latest minority coach to make such complaints against the NFL, but one of the few willing to come forward with legitimate evidence supporting his case that the league and teams’ actions have impacted his and others’ abilities to land coaching and coordinator roles. In my reporting for Talking Points Sports, I covered all the allegations but centered in on the New York Giants and their ties to the case. A story that is far from over just yet, this piece was one of my most-comprehensive news stories in my writing career.