(CNN) — Brian Flores, the former head coach of the Miami Dolphins, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the NFL, the New York Giants, the Denver Broncos and the Dolphins alleging racial discrimination.
Flores, who is black, says in his lawsuit that the Giants interviewed him for their vacant head coaching job under insincere circumstances, as Flores learned three days before his interview that the Giants had already decided to hire Brian Daboll.
Flores says he found out about this after receiving a congratulatory text message from New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick that was sent in error.
Brian Flores, then head coach of the Miami Dolphins, during the game between the Dolphins and the New England Patriots on January 9.
“Looks like you’ve landed, congratulations!!” read the message Belichick sent Flores, according to screenshots of the conversation filed in Flores’ lawsuit.
“Did you hear something I didn’t hear?” Flores replied.
“Giants?!?!?!” Belichick replied in a text message.
“I have an interview on Thursday,” Flores wrote. “I think I have a chance.”
“Got it. Heard from Buffalo & NYG you’re their guy,” Belichick replied.
Flores later asked for clarification.
“Coach, are you talking to Brian Flores or Brian Daboll?” Flores asked. “Just making sure.”
“Sorry I blew it,” Belichick replied. “I double checked and misread the text. I think they’re naming Daboll. Sorry. BB.”
Rooney Rule
Flores alleges in his lawsuit that his interview with the Giants was a ruse so the team could “falsely demonstrate to league commissioner Roger Goodell and the general public that it was in compliance with the Rooney Rule.”
The NFL instituted the Rooney Rule in 2003 in an effort to increase diversity among the NFL’s head coach, general manager, and executive ranks. The rule requires each team to interview at least two outside minority candidates for open head coaching positions, according to the NFL Football Operations website.
Currently, only one of the 27 employed head coaches in the NFL is black, with five teams without a head coach in a league where roughly 70% of the players are black. There are two other non-black minority coaches: one of Puerto Rican and Mexican descent and one of Lebanese descent.
Flores’ lawsuit claims that in 2019 he was the subject of another “bogus interview,” this one with the Denver Broncos. Flores says “then-Broncos general manager John Elway, president and CEO Joe Ellis and others were an hour late for the interview,” adding that the Broncos delegation “looked completely disheveled, and it was obvious they had drinking a lot the night before.”
It also says Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered to pay Flores to purposely lose games in order to secure a higher pick in the NFL draft and encouraged Flores to deliberately violate rigging rules. of the league. Flores says that when he refused, Ross led a campaign to treat Flores with “disdain and portrayed himself as someone he didn’t deliver on and was difficult to work with.”
Lawsuit puts my career at risk, says Flores
“God has gifted me with a special talent to coach soccer, but the need for change is greater than my personal goals,” Flores wrote in a statement.
“By making the decision to file the class action lawsuit today, I understand that I may jeopardize coaching the game that I love and that has done so much for my family and me,” Flores continued. “My sincere hope is that by standing up against systemic racism in the NFL, others will join me in ensuring positive change happens for generations to come.”
The teams and the NFL defend their actions
The NFL responded to Flores’ lawsuit, calling the allegations baseless.
“The NFL and our clubs are deeply committed to ensuring fair employment practices and continue to make progress to provide equal opportunity across all of our organizations,” the league said in its statement. “Diversity is fundamental to everything we do, and there are few topics that our clubs and internal leadership team spend more time on. We will defend ourselves against these claims, which are without merit.”
The Giants organization released a statement backing its process and decision to hire Daboll.
“We are pleased and confident with the process that resulted in the hiring of Brian Daboll,” the team statement said. “We interviewed an impressive and diverse group of candidates. The fact of the matter is that Brian Flores was in the conversation to be our head coach until the very last minute. Ultimately, we hired the person we felt was most qualified to be our next head coach.” .
The Dolphins also responded, saying, “We are aware of the lawsuit through media reports that came out this afternoon. We vehemently deny any allegations of racial discrimination and are proud of the diversity and inclusion throughout our organization. The implication that we acted in a manner inconsistent with the integrity of the game is incorrect. We will not comment further on the lawsuit at this time.”
The Denver Broncos strongly challenged Flores’ lawsuit, saying, “Brian Flores’ allegations directed at the Denver Broncos in today’s court filing are blatantly false.”
“Our process was thorough and fair in determining the most qualified candidate for our head coaching position,” the team statement continued. “The Broncos will vigorously defend the integrity and values of our organization, and its employees, from such baseless and derogatory claims.”
Flores’ attorneys, Douglas H. Wigdor and John Elefteraki, said in a statement that the lawsuit seeks to “level the playing field.”
“On the first day of Black History Month, it is a great privilege for us to represent Brian Flores in his class action lawsuit against the NFL,” they said. “This case seeks to level the playing field in hopes that future owners and trainers will represent the athletes who are playing this great game. We hope that trainers and players of all races will support Brian as he embarks on his journey to create positive change.”
Flores was Belichick’s assistant
Flores went 24-25 in three years with the Dolphins, including a 9-8 record this season when Miami failed to make the playoffs.
Before being a head coach in Miami, he worked in scouting and was an assistant coach to Belichick with the Patriots from 2004 to 2018.
He played football at Boston College but not in the NFL.
Lawsuit demands compensation for damages and changes
The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York and seeks compensation for damages and injunctive relief.
This includes that the NFL and its teams:
— Increase the influence of blacks who make hiring and firing decisions for the highest positions
— Create a committee to increase ownership diversity
— Require teams to explain hiring and firing decisions in writing
— Create a training program for black assistant coaches who want to step up and become offensive or defensive coordinators.
— Make pay for general managers, head coaches and coordinators transparent
— Create monetary, draft or salary incentives to hire and retain top black GMs and coaches
— Involve more black players and coaches in interviews for those positions
— Require teams to show criteria comparisons for employment decisions
CNN’s David Close and Steve Almasy contributed to this report.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.