What Brian Flores Suing the NFL Means from a Legal Standpoint
Flores alleged that the NFL has systemically racist hiring practices that deny African-Americans from holding head coaching positions and other prominent positions in NFL franchises. It will be interesting to watch how this all plays out over the coming weeks and months. Let’s go over some of the lawsuit’s details, and discuss whether Flores is likely to win his lawsuit.
The Lawsuit’s Main Points
A lawsuit as groundbreaking as that which Flores brought against the NFL is national news. This is not like your neighbor hiring a personal injury lawyer because they slipped and injured themselves at the grocery store. Within minutes of this story breaking, every pundit on TV couldn’t stop talking about it.The lawsuit has many facets, and it would take a long time to list them all, not to mention all of their implications. Here are the simple facts. Flores alleges that certain NFL franchises gave him a head coaching interview but that those interviews were shams. The teams never had any intention of considering hiring Flores, he says.
Flores got a series of texts from Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots head coach. Belichick congratulated Flores on winning the Giants’ head coaching job. However, the Giants gave that position to Brian Daboll instead, a white man. Because the two share a first name, Belichick made a mistake.
Flores found out three days before his interview that the Giants planned to hire Daboll, so his own interview served no purpose. Flores also singled out the Denver Broncos organization as part of the lawsuit. He alleges that team ownership met with him but seemed disingenuous about hiring him.
The Rooney Rule
The Rooney Rule is also a part of this lawsuit, if indirectly, so it bears discussing. The Rooney Rule, named after the family that owns the Pittsburgh Steelers, stipulates that any team trying to fill a head coaching vacancy must interview at least one candidate who is an ethnic minority, such as African American or Asian.Brian Flores feels that the Broncos and Giants only interviewed him because that would check off a box that the Rooney Rule puts in place. The rule is pointless, according to Flores, because it’s a way to pay lip service to the idea that the team’s ownership might hire an ethnic minority to a head coaching position. They seldom do it, though.
That is what seems to be at the crux of Flores’ lawsuit. There are 32 head coaching jobs available in the NFL, and at the moment, an African American holds only one of them. That’s Mike Tomlin, the Steelers head coach.
After the so-called Black Monday, the day after the NFL regular season ends, a total of nine NFL head coaching positions were up for grabs. Team ownership has filled several of those spots at this point. To this date, a white man got every one of the available jobs. This is indisputable, although highly qualified African American candidates like Leslie Frazier, Todd Bowles, and Byron Leftwich are still out there and readily available.
Is Flores Likely to Win His Lawsuit?
Despite the damning text message chain from Belichick, it will probably be genuinely difficult for Flores to win his class-action suit. What’s interesting is the class action part of this story. Class action implies that others can get on board and sue along with Flores. Who else will want to be a part of his suit?Flores stated that he understands he will probably never coach again because of taking this stance, but he feels like if he wins his lawsuit, he will make things better for future generations of potential African American head coaches. Even if he loses, he is bringing a conversation that desperately needs to happen to the forefront.
Many talking heads on ESPN and elsewhere have said that they feel Flores is very brave for taking this stance, and you might agree with that. Whether he’s right or justified and whether he will win his lawsuit are not the same thing, though.
Frankly, it will be difficult for Flores to prove discriminatory hiring practices, even if there seems to be abundant anecdotal evidence of them. The Belichick texts might get a judge to at least consider siding with Flores, but they may not be enough. The NFL teams Flores named have already said his claims are meritless, and they will fight against this lawsuit with all their power.
This Lawsuit Might Set Precedent
Many times, when lawsuits like this happen, it can eventually lead to change. Think about all the suits that worked their way through the system during the Civil Rights era in the 1960s. The fight happened in the street with marches, protests, and sit-ins, but it also occurred in the courtroom.Ultimately, courtroom battles forced exclusively white schools to let in African American students. It might seem like a stretch to compare the Flores case to Civil Rights cases, but you could argue there is a direct correlation.
It’s anyone’s guess how this lawsuit will play out. Maybe Flores won’t get a legal victory, but he is at least starting a conversation in the same way that Collin Kaepernick did when he knelt on the sidelines during the National Anthem a few years ago.
On the other hand, perhaps the court will side with Flores and award him some monetary damages. If so, it could set a precedent that will come into play in the coming years.
You can be sure that many attorneys will watch this lawsuit closely. They might end up representing African American clients in the future who bring similar suits or even get on board with this one.
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Posted - 02/03/2022
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