Former Miami Dolphins Coach Files Lawsuit Against NFL
Recently, a rise in high-profile investigations in professional sports has come to light, aimed at creating a more equitable field free from discrimination and harassment for players, coaches, and staff alike. While sports teams may not be traditional “workplaces,” it is still important for teams, and the leagues they operate under as a whole, to ensure everyone feels safe and comfortable coming to work each day. A recent racial discrimination lawsuit filed by a former head coach in the NFL highlights the significance of equity and fairness in hiring practices in the sports industry.
On February 1, 2022, former Miami Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL, alleging the league engaged in racially discriminatory hiring practices for its coaches and executives. Flores’ suit also named three NFL teams as defendants – the Miami Dolphins, the New York Giants, and the Denver Broncos. Flores’ allegations against the Dolphins stem from his recent firing as head coach in January. Flores claimed that though his firing was not directly related to racial discrimination – but rather because he refused directives to violate league rules – it still led to him being “defamed” as an “angry Black man.” Flores also alleged both the Giants and the Broncos interviewed him for a head coaching position, without any intent to hire him, purely to fulfill the NFL’s diversity requirements in interviewing.
Filed on the first day of Black History Month, the lawsuit alleged the NFL “lives in a time of the past” and is “managed much like a plantation.” Flores asserted the league’s Rooney Rule – a requirement that teams interview at least one minority candidate for head coaches and other senior-level positions – does not work because teams are not conducting those interviews in good faith, creating a perception that interviews of Black candidates are only being done to technically comply with the rule rather than “in recognition of the talents that the Black candidates possess.” In his suit, Flores pointed out that the number of Black head coaches, coordinators, and quarterback coaches do not accurately reflect “the number of Black athletes on the field.” While the majority of players in the NFL are Black, there are currently only two Black head coaches in the league – Mike Tomlin with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Lovie Smith with the Houston Texans. Recently, the Dolphins also hired Mike McDaniel as their new head coach, who identifies as biracial, while Flores received a position as a defensive assistant/linebackers coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers, under Tomlin.
Flores was fired from the Dolphins team after three seasons, despite a good third season that included a seven-game winning streak. In a statement released by the Dolphins, Owner Stephen Ross said, “I determined that key dynamics of our football organization weren’t functioning at a level I want it to be and felt that this decision was in the best interest of the Miami Dolphins.”
For his part, Flores claimed he was fired from the Dolphins because he “refused his owner’s directive to ‘tank’ for the first pick in the draft” during the 2019 football season. In his suit, Flores alleged that in 2019, Ross offered Flores $100,000 for every time the team lost. Flores also alleged Ross tried to pressure him to violate the league’s tampering rules by pressuring him “to recruit a prominent quarterback,” and treated Flores with “disdain and held out as someone who was noncompliant and difficult to work with” after Flores refused to meet with the quarterback in an impromptu meeting arranged by Ross. Flores claimed his treatment by Ross and the Dolphins was “reflective of an all too familiar ‘angry black man’ stigma that is often casted upon Black men who are strong in their morals and convictions while white men are coined as passionate for those very same attributes.” The Dolphins denied the allegations.
After being fired from the Dolphins, Flores interviewed for the head coaching position with the Giants. Flores claimed the leadership team for the Giants already knew they would hire former Buffalo Bills Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll, a White male, for the job at the time of Flores’ interview. Flores based this allegation on a text message exchange he had with New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick three days prior to the interview. In the screenshotted text exchange provided in Flores’ lawsuit, Belichick appears to tell Flores that he got the position – only to later tell him he “misread the text” and Daboll was the one that secured the job. Flores alleged he was only interviewed for the position to “demonstrate falsely” that the team had complied with the Rooney Rule. The Giants responded to the allegations in a statement, maintaining Flores was “in the conversation to be our head coach until the eleventh hour.”
Flores claimed the Giants were not the only team to interview him in bad faith. In 2019, Flores interviewed for the head coaching position with the Denver Broncos, an interview he claimed was also a “sham” in order to fulfill the requirements of the Rooney Rule, and that the Broncos never considered him as a legitimate candidate. Flores alleged then-General Manager John Elway and President Joe Ellis showed up to the interview an hour late, looking “completely disheveled […] it was obvious that they had [been] drinking heavily the night before.” The Broncos released a statement saying Flores’ allegations were “blatantly false” and asserted their “process was thorough and fair to determine the most qualified candidate for our head coaching position.”
Players and other big names in the league have voiced their support of Flores on social media. Meanwhile, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in an annual press conference on February 9 that the league will not tolerate racism or discrimination. While he did not address Flores’ claims directly, Goodell said the league would be revisiting its policies and looking for evidence of discrimination in its policies and practices.
In mid-February, the Dolphins requested that the NFL move to put Flores’ disputes with the team into arbitration. Flores responded by urging Goodell to reject the Dolphins’ request. In a March 9 letter to Goodell submitted through his lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, Flores argued that “arbitration—which is conducted behind closed doors and outside the public eye—is contrary to all notions of transparency, accountability and fundamental fairness.” Wigdor’s letter claimed that the lack of transparency arbitration would bring “only serves to continue the status quo.” Wigdor’s letter concluded with a hope that the Dolphins reconsider their arbitration request and claimed, “If the NFL is truly committed to ‘ending racism,’ as it has repeatedly claimed, the league will reject Miami’s request for arbitration. Race discrimination cannot be eradicated behind closed doors and the integrity of the game depends on transparency.”
A statement released by Flores asserted, “The claims that we filed involve important issues of systemic race discrimination and the integrity of NFL football games,” asking if Goodell would “allow this case and future race discrimination claims to play out in a transparent and public legal process, or continue along the same unacceptable path?” The Dolphins and the NFL have yet to respond to the letter or to Flores’ statement.
At Van Dermyden Makus, we have a front row seat to claims like Flores’. Whether a claim is made against an organization, employee, performer, or athlete, our trained investigators bring an unbiased, third-party assessment of the claims. It is our goal to give the decision-makers a tool that helps everyone just get back to work, or the field, in a safe environment.
Author Lisa Mabie is a Senior Editor at VM. In this role, she reviews hundreds of reports and sees firsthand how VM’s independent investigations help employers, employees, and athletes resolve disputes, voice their concerns, and cultivate safer workplaces.