Brian Flores Refused to Sign Non-Disclosure Agreement to Tank for Dolphins
Current Pittsburgh Steelers defensive assistant Brian Flores told Bryant Gumbel of HBO's "Real Sports" that he refused to sign a separation agreement presented by team owner Stephen Ross during his termination from the Miami Dolphins.
"Just signing that separation agreement would have really silenced me," Flores told Gumbel.
According to Flores' attorney Doug Wigdor, the contract was a two-year non-disparagement agreement.
"To Coach Flores' credit, he wasn't gonna sign that, because he wanted -- it wasn't about the money," Wigdor told Gumbel. "If it was about the money, he would have signed it. What he did instead was he filed this lawsuit so that he could help other coaches, now ... and in the future."
"If a coach is terminated with a couple years or a year left on their contract, they don't get paid unless they sign a waiver, an NDA, confidentiality and non-disparagement," Wigdor added. "So they buy their silence."
The Dolphins have since released a statement calling Flores' claims false.
"This latest assertion by Brian Flores that Steve Ross mentioned an NDA to him is categorically false. This just did not happen and we simply cannot understand why Brian continues this pattern of making unfounded statements that he knows are untrue," Miami said. "We are fully cooperating with the NFL investigation and look forward to all of the facts coming out which we are confident will prove that his claims are false and defamatory."
Flores and his attorney then released screenshots on social media of what they say is a draft agreement and the payment termination notice. One of the documents is a non-disparagement clause.
The team's senior vice president of football and business administration Brandon Shore sent Flores a payment termination notice after Flores did not sign the agreement. In the memo, it states Flores is not entitled to receive non-accrued benefits and compensation because he did not sign the contract.
Flores filed a 58-page lawsuit against the league, which included teams such as the Giants, Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins. He claimed the Giants conducted a "sham" interview due to his race, and also accuses the Dolphins of offering $100,000 per loss in 2019.
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