Thread by @DrewFBGAuctions

It's time for my #FFLegalUpdate on the Brian Flores suit filed in the Southern District of New York today.

I've read the Complaint and distilled it down the best I can, but it's a 58-page complaint, so grab a drink and settle in!

Questions are always welcome. Here we go...

1/

Don't forget that I talk about all legal situations in much more detail (and with some opinion thrown in) on my show The Auction Brief.

It releases weekly during draft season, and will be dropping on Thursday mornings frequently in the offseason.

2/
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/auc…

The suit is quite an interesting read for anyone, so if you want to do so, here is a link if you want to read it.

There isn't a ton of "legal-ese" and there are a LOT of details about what the Plaintiff's goals and arguments are.

3/
sdnyblog.com/files/2022/02/…

What struck me about the suit was that we know individually about each of the things named in the suit. But when they're put together like this & the evidence stacks up in the Complaint it is quite breathtaking.

I've seen a lot of speculation that this suit has no chance...

4/

...and I freely admit that I had the same first reaction.

But I'm not so sure after reading it.

Huge caveat: I'm NOT a civil rights law expert, nor am I a federal class-action expert.

But there's plenty we can still learn. I'll try my best to make it digestible.

5/

Boring stuff first...

The suit has been filed in the Southern District of New York, and the main allegation is what is known as a "1981 Action".

More plainly - it is an allegation of civil rights violations. Besides the 1981 claim, the suit also uses three other laws...

6/

Those are:

New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD)
New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL)
New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL)

The suit also notes that they have filed a Complaint with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission
(required for this action).

7/

The Causes of Action are quite simple:

- Race-based discrimination in violation of Section 1981, NJLAD, NYCHRL, and NYSHRL
- The Prayer is what the Plaintiff is asking for should they win the suit
- The Prayer in the suit is quite simple as well. They are asking for:

8/

- A Declaratory Judgment that the Defendants violated each of these laws with their practices and/or actions
- Injunctive relief to cure these practices including training for prospective Black coaches, and implementation of new and more strict standards to measure...

9/

...whether the practices of the teams are inclusive practices with non race-based reasons for their decisions
- Monetary damages for lost compensation, and for loss of reputation, loss of opportunity, and the accompanying mental anguish

#FFLegalUpdate
10/

Now, as to the allegations in the suit itself, there are a LOT of details included. As I said it's 58 pages. So I think the best way to break it down is to simply list some of the things included in the complaint, and reserve the end for a couple comments about it.

11/

One interesting note to start: This was filed as a class-action suit. They claim to have greater than 40 individuals ready to join the class. That's a big number & I'm really interested to see who ends up joining. It will also tell us a little about how much teeth this has.

12/

The contents of the suit itself are quite comprehensive.

They begin by going back to the beginnings of the league and how race was an issue from the start. They detail a "gentleman's agreement" that teams had from 1933-1945 to not have Black players on their teams.

13/

In 1946 California forced the Rams to have a Black player because of the Plessy v. Ferguson decision.

The suit goes on to detail some incredible numbers around the integration of the league.

#FFLegalUpdate

14/

They note that it took:
- 40 years (mid 80s) for Black QBs to be acceptable
- 43 years for the first Black HC
- 54 years for the first Black GM
- 76 years to the Present with no Black majority owners, and no Black Commissioner

Staggering.

15/

Some statistics from the suit:

- Only 1 team (of 32) has a Black HC (3%)
- 4 have a Black O-Coordinator (12%)
- 11 have a Black DC (34%)
- 8 have a Black ST Coord (25%)
- 3 have a Black QB Coach (9%)
- 6 have a Black GM (19%)

16/

This is juxtaposed against the number of Black players in the NFL at around 70%.

Some other numbers from the suit:

- In the 20 years since the Rooney Rule only 11% of HC vacancies were filled by Black candidates (15 of 129)

17/

- Since 2012 of the 10 Black HCs hired, zero of them are still employed
- In the same timeframe white HCs have been given an average of 3.5 years on the job compared to 2.5 years for Black HCs - a full year extra
- Since 1978 only 16 teams have fired winning coaches

18/

- Of those 16, 4 of them were Black
- Black HCs are 3.5 times more likely to be fired after a winning season
- Since 1963, 116 white coaches have been given second chances to coach, while only 21 Black coaches have been given that chance

19/

And finally, the suit isolates the pipeline to being a HC as being fraught with the same discrimination.

- Since 2012, 80% of HC hires were previously coordinators
- The lack of Black QB coaches (to take vacated OCoord jobs), and lack of overall Black inclusion...

20/

...at either Coordinator position leads to the lack of candidates for the HC position

Ok well I could go on with all the statistics listed in the Complaint, but let me shift to talk some specifics from the suit real quick before I make a couple comments.

21/

The suit does two other things.

1 - Gives numerous examples of discrimination from teams or the NFL (I'll list them)
2 - Talks specifically about the experience that Brian Flores has had trying to be a HC

#FFLegalUpdate

22/

The list of discriminatory practices is long, and pretty inclusive, but I apologize if I miss anything. That list is:

- Jon Gruden emails
- Colin Kapernick blackball
- Reggie McKenzie's firing and move to Mike Mayock/Gruden

23/

- The NFL pandering to social justice during the pandemic/George Floyd protests
- The Giants have never had a Black HC in 100 years
- How the Lions hired Steve Mariucci
- The treatment of Jim Caldwell after his success with two different teams

24/

- The firing of David Culley
- The lack of opportunities for up and coming coaching stars Kris Richard, Teryl Austin, and Eric Bienemy

The final one on the list is a particularly insidious one. The suit refers to the use of "Race Norms" by the NFL.

25/

Spend some time with Google on that one, but having Race Norms is the horrid practice of assuming Black people have "worse cognitive functioning" as a baseline than white people. This impacted recovery during the concussion lawsuit settlement.

26/

As to Flores himself, the suit lists two main arguments for why race-based discrimination is virulent in the NFL.

First, he lists his "humiliating" experience of being given a "sham" interview by the Denver Broncos. He describes showing up to the interview and...

27/

...Elway and CEO Ellis were an hour late. They also appeared, according to the suit, to have been out drinking heavily the night before. Flores says it was clear from the "substance of the interview" that he was not a serious candidate.

28/

With respect to the Giants position, the most damning allegation in the suit is based on some text messages Flores received from Bill Belichick.

The screen shots are included in the suit in two different spots if you want to see them. But they say...

29/

...that BB is telling Flores that he's "their guy". Flores then puts it together that maybe he thinks he's talking to Brian Daboll, not Flores. BB confirms that he made a mistake and apologizes.

#FFLegalUpdate

30/

This may not seem like a big deal on first blush, but this exchange happened BEFORE the Giants interviewed Flores for the job!

The last thing Flores talks about in the suit is his time with the Dolphins.

He states that owner Stephen Ross wanted Flores to tank for...

31/

...draft position and offered him $100k per loss if he did so.

Additionally, the suit says that Ross pressured Flores to tamper with a prominent NFL QB, even going so far as to set up an "accidental" meeting between the two. Flores flat refused.

32/

Subsequent to Flores refusing to tank, or to tamper, he alleges he was treated with "disdain" and was on the outs from that moment on.

Whew. That's a lot. And I'm sorry, but we aren't quite done yet.

Some thoughts on all of this.

33/

Remember when I said in a previous thread that sometimes I have to tell my clients that no matter what is "right" or "true", we have to deal in reality? That reality exists in the courtroom and it's about what we can and can't prove. That rings true here.

34/

It may be hard to prove all this stuff, or to win in court. But it would be a mistake to think "that's not true" or "that wasn't smart to file this" just because the case might not be a winner.

And I say this as someone who, on first review, thinks this case has legs.

35/

Don't forget a few things that will dictate how this case goes:

- Flores has already said he recognizes this could hurt his chances at being a coach ever again. He believes in this suit more than he cares about that. Not only is that admirable, but it...

36/

...tells you that he isn't going to let this go quietly

- His lawyer also said "We weren't going to be coy and see if he got a job" before filing the suit. They are committed to this action.

- Expect more coaches to join the action and to tell their stories

37/

- Make no mistake - this is a BOMBSHELL for the NFL and will reverberate, just as intended by Plaintiffs
- The case will be an attempt to gain access to as much as possible through the discovery process
- The NFL's own admissions of racial disparity...

38/

...can, may, and likely will be used against them. The suit makes that clear as well.

So where does this leave us? Well right now we are in the infancy of the case. As always I caution everyone to breathe and not overreact either way. This will get messy before it's over.

39/

And I'll take a second to preach as I always do:
Please understand that if you are not Black, or have not experienced the feelings that Brian Flores, or others, have felt as the victim of discrimination it is not your turn to speak up. Listen. Try to empathize. And be quiet.

40/

This is THEIR experience, not yours to pre-empt with your judgments about whether they are "right or wrong" to feel this way, to file this suit, or to claim their lived experience as humiliating or otherwise.

41/

I won't make any judgments about how this case will end up. I'm not an expert on 1981 law, and even if I was there is far too much to happen here to know how it will shake out.

What I will say is that this suit neatly encapsulates the MAJORITY of practices the NFL...

42/

...and teams have engaged in since the inception of the league. Seeing it all in one place is staggering and the scope is astonishing. Whether they are proven or not is somewhat secondary to the goal.

Let's listen, understand, & try to keep moving in the right direction.

43/

Thanks for reading this massive thread. I hope you got something out of it, and thanks for listening to my moralizing too.

Please RT the original tweet if the spirit moves you. If not, thanks for reading this whole way!

Peace, hope & love to all of you.

#FFLegalUpdate

44/44