NY Giants Among Accused in Brian Flores Lawsuit

The New York Giants are among four accused in a class action lawsuit filed in Manhattan Federal Court by former Miami Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores, who claims that he has been wrongly discriminated against because of the color of his skin.

Flores is suing the Giants, the National Football League, the Denver Broncos and his former employer, the Miami Dolphins.

According to reports, Flores claims that the his interview for the Giants head coaching job was a "sham" to satisfy the "Rooney Rule" which requires teams interview minority candidates for head coaching jobs, even if they don't hire one when a final decision is made.

Currently only three minorities are head coaches in the NFL, one of them being African American in Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The other two, Robert Slaeh of the Jets is of Middle Eastern descent, and Ron Rivera of the Washington Football Team is Hispanic.

The suit reads: "Mr. Flores was forced to sit through a dinner with Joe Schoen, the Giants General Manager, knowing that the Giants had already selected Mr. Daboll," (New York Post)

The complaint also includes a text message from Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick where the Super Bowl winning coach allegedly texted Flores to congratulate him for getting the Giants job, later retracting it, admitting he meant the text for Brian Daboll.

The New York Giants also issued a statement reading that their hiring process was "diverse." In addition to Flores, the Giants also interviewed defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, who is of African American descent.

The suit also alleges that the Miami Dolphins, its owner Stephen Ross, and General Manager Chris Grier tried to pay Flores "$100,000 per loss" in order to improve the team's draft position.

“[T]he writing had been on the wall since Mr. Flores’ first season as Head Coach of the Dolphins, when he refused his owner’s directive to ‘tank’ for the first pick in the draft,” the suit says. “Indeed, during the 2019 season, Miami’s owner, Stephen Ross, told Mr. Flores that he would pay him $100,000 for every loss, and the team’s General Manager, Chris Grier, told Mr. Flores that “Steve” was ‘mad’ that Mr. Flores’ success in winning games that year was ‘compromising [the team’s] draft position.’”

According to ESPN, Flores is asking the NFL for "injunctive relief" including: Increase influence of Black individuals in hiring; Increase the objectivity of hiring/terminating GMs, head coaches and coordinators; increase the number of Black coordinators; Incentivize hiring/retention of African American General Managers head coaches and coordinators; and transparency in paying said GM's and coaches.

Flores went 24-25 in three seasons at the helm of the Miami Dolphins. This season, Miami started 1-7 before finishing 8-1 and narrowly missing the playoffs. Flores was fired after the season, which stunned many. Reports early on after the firing were that Flores had issues with members of the Miami front office.

Flores was a Head Coaching candidate last month with a number of teams including the Giants, Broncos, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, and Houston Texans.