Brian Flores, who was fired as coach of the Miami Dolphins last month and was rejected for new jobs with other clubs, has sued the N.F.L. and its 32 teams alleging that they have discriminated against him and other Black coaches in their hiring.
Flores’s filing in federal court comes just days after the Giants, one of the teams he interviewed with, named Brian Daboll, who is white, as their new head coach.
Flores cited text messages he said were sent by his former boss, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. In the messages, Belichick appears to congratulate Flores for winning the Giants’ job, which he had yet to interview for. Flores responded by asking if Belichick had intended the message for Daboll, who interviewed before Flores’s scheduled meeting.
The respondent answered: “I think they are naming Daboll. I’m sorry about that. BB”
In a statement, Giants spokesman Pat Hanlon said the team was “confident with the process that resulted in the hiring of Brian Daboll” and that “Flores was in the conversation to be our head coach until the eleventh hour.” A Patriots spokesman said he did not anticipate that the team would be issuing a response.