Brian Flores Names Giants, NFL, Others in Explosive Lawsuit

Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, who had received consideration by several NFL teams for their head coaching vacancies, including the New York Giants, has filed a class action lawsuit against the National Football League and each of its franchises for racial discrimination.

In the suit filed in New York, Flores alleges, “the NFL remains rife with racism, particularly when it comes to the hiring and retention of Black Head Coaches, Coordinators, and General Managers.”

Specific to the Giants, Flores claims that he was informed by New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick that the Giants head coaching job had gone to Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll three days before Flores was scheduled to interview for the position.

Per paragraph 19 of the 58-page lawsuit:

On Wednesday, January 26, 2022, Mr. Flores was forced to sit through a dinner with Joe Schoen, the Giant's new General Manager, knowing that the Giants had already selected Mr. Daboll. Much worse, on Thursday, January 27, 2022, Mr. Flores had to give an extensive interview for a job that he already knew he would not get—an interview that was held for no reason other than for the Giants to demonstrate falsely to the League Commissioner Roger Goodell and the public at large that it was in compliance with the Rooney Rule.

The suit further goes on to say that the Giants, who in addition to Flores, hosted Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier for an interview as well as defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, an internal candidate, as part of the six-candidate group (the others being Daboll, Dan Quinn, and Lou Anarumo) for their vacant head coaching vacancy, “would likely have gotten away with this most insidious form of discrimination” had a text message exchange purportedly with the Patriots head coach not mistakenly revealed otherwise.

Texts from Bill Belichick to Brian Flores, congratulating Brian for landing the #Giants job.

Belichick thought he was texting Brian Daboll. He was texting Flores by mistake. pic.twitter.com/Y686XcjYC3
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 1, 2022

Flores' lawsuit also characterized the interview with the Giants, who have never hired a black head coach in their nearly 100-year history, as a "sham," and claimed he was "humiliated" in the process, per paragraph 30:

Plaintiff Brian Flores is a Black man and the former Head Coach of the Miami Dolphins. Mr. Flores was not only denied the Head Coach position of the New York Giants but was humiliated in the process as the New York Giants subjected him to a sham interview in an attempt to appear to provide a Black candidate with a legitimate chance at obtaining the job.

The Giants, via a team-issued statement, have denied any wrongdoing in their head coaching hiring process.

We are pleased and confident with the process that resulted in the hiring of Brian Daboll. We interviewed an impressive and diverse group of candidates. The fact of the matter is, Brian Flores was in the conversation to be our head coach until the eleventh hour. Ultimately, we hired the individual we felt was most qualified to be our next head coach.

In his own statement released by his attorneys, the Brooklyn-born Flores acknowledged that he is likely putting his future coaching career at risk with his lawsuit.

God has gifted me with a special talent to coach the game of football, but the need for change is bigger than my personal goals. In making the decision to file the class action complaint today, I understand that I may be risking coaching the game that I love, and that has done so much for my family and me. My sincere hope is that by standing up against systemic racism in the NFL, others will join me to ensure that positive change is made for generations to come.

The entire lawsuit can be found here.

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