Flores’ NFL lawsuit

[hordman]

from Greg  Cote:

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/greg-cote/article257940508.html#storylink=mainstage_lead

On the day Black History Month began, Brian Flores took a stand and delivered a statement that might qualify as historic as it takes direct aim at the mighty NFL in an explosive lawsuit alleging “systemic racism” in hiring practices.

The suit filed in Manhattan federal court seeks class-action status and damages from the league, the Miami Dolphins — who fired Flores last month — the Denver Broncos, New York Giants and unnamed individuals.

One allegation in the suit, if proved true, should lead to Dolphins owner Stephen Ross immediately stepping down from his role running the franchise.

The suit alleges that Ross offered Flores a $100,000 bonus for every game lost in the 2019 season, the coach’s first with Miami, in an intentional effort to “tank” the season and get the overall No. 1 draft pick, and that the owner was angry when the Dolphins won enough games to only get the fifth overall pick.


What would truly be awesome is if the NFL finds this to be true and Ross is forced to sell the Dolphins.  This would be a super great late Christmas present.

#crossesfingers

[EDGECRUSHER]

Ross should be forced to sell the team since his allegiance lies with a college team over Miami but I'll take it any way I can get it.

[miamid45]

Good for him in exposing the bullshit….Fuck the hiring crap.. that’s in my opinion up to every owner…. Seriously, I’m hiring who the fuck I want no matter ethnicity!  If the offer of 100k to lose games prove valid then there is an issue!…. That is the ONLY issue in my opinion!

[Downunder Dolphan]

There are two completely separate issues in this whole massive vent of Flores post sacking that has been brought up...

The racism issues in regard to coaching interviews is one, and probably the least relevant in regard to the Dolphins... none of what he brought up with our team has anything to do with that.

The issue of Ross paying him to lose games though... if he can prove it that's massive, and potentially a much bigger issue. And if it's a team issue and not an NFL issue, you can guess who the sacrificial lamb is going to be. Throw in that he tried to poach a current opposing Quarterback under contract during the season, and he is either too arrogant or too stupid to learn from his mistake with approaching Harbaugh years ago...

If there is any proof Flores has (paper/financial payments) that prove Ross paid him to throw games, Ross is dead meat. It won't matter how much money he has, the NFL will save its own ass and move Ross on. In a perverse way it will do Dolphins fans a huge favor, because if people somehow did not know it in the last 13 years, the guy has no clue and is clearly not fit to be an owner of an NFL franchise.

[EDGECRUSHER]

There are two completely separate issues in this whole massive vent of Flores post sacking that has been brought up...

The racism issues in regard to coaching interviews is one, and probably the least relevant in regard to the Dolphins... none of what he brought up with our team has anything to do with that.

The issue of Ross paying him to lose games though... if he can prove it that's massive, and potentially a much bigger issue. And if it's a team issue and not an NFL issue, you can guess who the sacrificial lamb is going to be. Throw in that he tried to poach a current opposing Quarterback under contract during the season, and he is either too arrogant or too stupid to learn from his mistake with approaching Harbaugh years ago...

If there is any proof Flores has (paper/financial payments) that prove Ross paid him to throw games, Ross is dead meat. It won't matter how much money he has, the NFL will save its own ass and move Ross on. In a perverse way it will do Dolphins fans a huge favor, because if people somehow did not know it in the last 13 years, the guy has no clue and is clearly not fit to be an owner of an NFL franchise.

If Flores can prove with financial records that Ross paid him to lose, then he is in deep shit too. That would mean he either took the money and coached the team to lose, or he just took the money and pretended to try to lose. Any way you slice it, that's a horrible look for Flores and definitely the end of his coaching career.

If he can't prove it, then that means at best, he says Ross offered it to him but didn't follow through. I'll wait for more legal people to dissect his lawsuit but with how over the top he makes things sound, I don't think he got the proof to back up his claims.

[Downunder Dolphan]

If Flores can prove with financial records that Ross paid him to lose, then he is in deep shit too. That would mean he either took the money and coached the team to lose, or he just took the money and pretended to try to lose. Any way you slice it, that's a horrible look for Flores and definitely the end of his coaching career.

If he can't prove it, then that means at best, he says Ross offered it to him but didn't follow through. I'll wait for more legal people to dissect his lawsuit but with how over the top he makes things sound, I don't think he got the proof to back up his claims.

The thing is though, if he can prove it he mightn't be as in the shit... because he said Grier told him Ross was really pissed off he managed to win 5 games, and if he has Ross's communications to prove he had a $100K bonus to throw a game, he probably also has the same from Grier to say that he was pissed off about not going ahead with it.

I think it's an all or nothing play by Flores - someone is going to be buried by the NFL after all this is done. Is it the Owner, or the pissed off employee? It's 50/50 at this stage, and it all depends on the proof that Flores actually has on Ross.

[pondwater]

The thing is though, if he can prove it he mightn't be as in the shit... because he said Grier told him Ross was really pissed off he managed to win 5 games, and if he has Ross's communications to prove he had a $100K bonus to throw a game, he probably also has the same from Grier to say that he was pissed off about not going ahead with it.

I think it's an all or nothing play by Flores - someone is going to be buried by the NFL after all this is done. Is it the Owner, or the pissed off employee? It's 50/50 at this stage, and it all depends on the proof that Flores actually has on Ross.

But Flores is just as guilty. He decided stay with the team for over two years after this supposedly happened. And he had no intention of quitting before he was fired. So actually, it would have been over three years after this supposedly happened.

You don't just get to throw everyone under the bus when shit doesn't go your way and get a pass for being complicit and hiding it for years. He could have quit at any time he wanted and reported Ross and Grier to the NFL. But yet he only reported it because the Giants didn't hire him, 3 weeks after Miami fired him. If the Giants did actually hire Flores, would any of this news about Ross and Grier even exist? Where's all the news from Flores about the shady shit that went on in New England?

What does all of this say about Flores? I mean, we're supposed to believe that Flores is this upstanding guy with high character and integrity that refused to tank, accept bribes, and tamper with other teams players. But yet looked the other way for years to keep his high paying job. Give me a break, character and integrity doesn't work like that.

Flores is a douchebag narcissist, that happens to be black, that got his ego smashed to pieces and now he wants to blame everyone but himself. "Poor me, I'm a victim, the Giants, Dolphins, and the rest of NFL are racist criminals. Oh, by the way someone pay me for my troubles."

That Motherfucker needs a shrink, not a lawyer

[hordman]

We can all agree upon that Ross is an arrogant fockin moron.

I hope this comes back to bite him in the ass. 

[CF DolFan]

Two interesting points I heard attorneys bring up today

1-If he took bribe makes him culpable too
2 - If he was really directed by his moral conscience then he would have exposed it at the time. He didn't reveal it until he was fired which makes it look like a revenge move. If he is motivated by revenge instead of itegrity then what else has he lied about or embellished to accomplish this revenge?

[pondwater]

Two interesting points I heard attorneys bring up today

1-If he took bribe makes him culpable too
2 - If he was really directed by his moral conscience then he would have exposed it at the time. He didn't reveal it until he was fired which makes it look like a revenge move. If he is motivated by revenge instead of itegrity then what else has he lied about or embellished to accomplish this revenge?

The NFL has released a statement regarding Brian Flores lawsuit:

The NFL and our clubs are deeply committed to ensuring equitable employment practices and continue to make progress in providing equitable opportunities throughout our organizations. 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.

[Spider-Dan]

Two interesting points I heard attorneys bring up today

1-If he took bribe makes him culpable too
2 - If he was really directed by his moral conscience then he would have exposed it at the time. He didn't reveal it until he was fired which makes it look like a revenge move. If he is motivated by revenge instead of itegrity then what else has he lied about or embellished to accomplish this revenge?

Your boss giving you a performance bonus for losses is not a "bribe" and I don't see how that makes Flores culpable.  He's virtually guaranteed to lose some games even if he tries to win them all... is he supposed to return part of his paycheck?  That's a pretty weak argument IMO.

The pay-to-tank incentive was part of Flores' lawsuit: namely, that after Ross offered to pay him to lose, he won too much and was fired.  If he's not fired, then... there isn't a complaint to make?  The lawsuit isn't about pay-to-tank; it's about being fired in spite of a winning record, how this happens disproportionately often to black coaches in the NFL, and how this particular owner potentially fired Flores for not losing enough (which puts him in a literal no-win situation).

[Spider-Dan]

The NFL has released a statement regarding Brian Flores lawsuit:

2 hours after Flores announced the lawsuit, the NFL releases a statement saying that the claims are "without merit."
That's some impressively quick investigation!

[CF DolFan]

2 hours after Flores announced the lawsuit, the NFL releases a statement saying that the claims are "without merit."
That's some impressively quick investigation!

Well .. the Rooney rule is pretty simple. Not sure how Flores can prove he wasn't interviewed. I get that it sucks but the fact teams seemed disinterested in hiring him doesn't seem to break any laws or rules.  It is an example of affirmative action, even though there is no hiring quota or hiring preference given to minorities, only an interviewing quota.

I think many of us have interviewed for jobs where the applicant was already selected but they were forced to "open" it up becuase of company rules. Sometimes you realise it during the interview but still have to stay and go through the motions.  I went through a spell a few yers ago where I had it happen three times. The postive was I made some connections that I didn't have previously.

[Fau Teixeira]

I think in today's political climate there's no way Flores can win a legal case, this will end up being 100% tried in the court of public opinion.

Does anyone believe for a single second that the "citizens united" 6-3 majority supreme court will find against the NFL when this finally gets to them? Not a chance. They're just about to abolish affirmative action for college admissions, they're much more likely to rule that the Rooney rule is unconstitutional and discriminates against white people than they are to find against billionaire republican "donors".

[Spider-Dan]

Well .. the Rooney rule is pretty simple. Not sure how Flores can prove he wasn't interviewed.

There were also allegations that Ross offered to give Flores extra pay for losses.  How could they have investigated those claims in 2 hours?
"We asked Ross and he said he didn't do it"?