The NFL has hired a law firm that includes former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to defend it and its teams in Brian Flores race discrimination lawsuit.
Lynch, the attorney general in the latter part of the Obama administration, will work with Brad Karp, chairman at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison. Karp previously has worked for the league in concussion cases.
Flores, who is Black, was fired as Miamis coach last month despite back-to-back winning seasons. He named the league and three teams the Dolphins, Denver Broncos and New York Giants in a class-action lawsuit earlier this month, alleging unfair hiring practices in the NFL.
In his lawsuit, Flores cites a string of text messages with Patriots coach Bill Belichick three days before his scheduled Giants interview for the head coaching position. Those texts led Flores to believe Brian Daboll already had been chosen as the new coach.
It was humiliating to be quite honest, Flores said. There was disbelief, there was anger, there was a wave of emotion for a lot of reasons.
There were nine head coach openings this offseason and two went to minorities: Mike McDaniel, who replaced Flores in Miami and is biracial, and Lovie Smith, who is African American and replaced David Culley, who also is Black. That brought the total of minority head coaches to five, three Black. More than 70% of NFL players are Black.
Flores also alleges in the lawsuit that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered to pay him $100,000 for every loss during the coachs first season (2019) because he wanted the club to tank so it could get the drafts top pick.