Ex-Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores is suing his former team, as well as the New York Giants, Denver Broncos and NFL, over alleged racial discrimination in hiring practices.
The 40-year-old spent 15 years as an assistant with the New England Patriots before joining the Dolphins in 2019, although he was fired last month after less than two years in charge.
Flores alleges that the Giants hired Brian Daboll - which the former Dolphins coach discovered in a text message wrongly sent to him by Bill Belichick - before interviewing any candidates from ethnic minorities as per the Rooney Rule.
The Giants released their own statement on the matter, saying: "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."
The lawsuit also claims that Flores was only interviewed for the Broncos job due to the Rooney Rule, and not because he was in with a chance of being hired, to which the Broncos responded: "The allegations from Brian Flores directed toward the Denver Broncos in today's court filing are blatantly false.
"Our interview with Mr. Flores regarding our head coaching position began at the scheduled time of 7:30am on January 5, 2019, in a Providence, R.I., hotel. There were five Broncos executives present for the interview, which lasted approximately three-and-a-half hours - the fully allotted time - and concluded shortly before 11:00am.
"Our process was thorough and fair to determine the most qualified candidate for our head coaching position. The Broncos will vigorously defend the integrity and values of our organisation - and its employees - from such baseless and disparaging claims."
Following his dismissal from the Dolphins in January, Flores claims that he refused to break league tampering rules in order to sign a quarterback under pressure from owner Stephen Ross, after which he was "ostracized".
A statement from the Dolphins in response read: "We are aware of the lawsuit through the media reports that came out this afternoon. We vehemently deny any allegations of racial discrimination and are proud of the diversity and inclusion throughout our organisation. The implication that we acted in a manner inconsistent with the integrity of the game is incorrect. We will be withholding further comment on the lawsuit at this time."
The NFL has also vowed to defend themselves against allegations, saying in a statement: "Diversity is core to everything we do, and there are few issues on which our clubs and our internal leadership team spend more time. We will defend against these claims, which are without merit."
Flores failed to lead the Dolphins to the postseason during his time in charge and finished his first head coach job with a record of 24–25 (.490).
Ben Knapton
