New Pittsburgh Steelers senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach Brian Flores will continue his class-action lawsuit against the NFL and others, despite his hiring by the team, according to a statement released by his attorneys late on Saturday.
Statement from Douglas H. Wigdor and John Elefterakis, attorneys for Brian Flores, regarding the Pittsburgh Steelers naming Coach Flores senior defensive assistant/linebackers:
“We congratulate Coach Flores on his new position with the Steelers and thank Coach Tomlin and the organization for giving him this great opportunity,” attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor and John Elefterakis said in a statement. “While Coach Flores is now focused on his new position, he will continue with his race discrimination class action so that real change can be made in the NFL.”
Flores alleged after his firing by the Miami Dolphins earlier this year that the NFL has engaged in discriminatory hiring practices that unfairly disadvantaged minority candidates and that teams conducted sham interviews to comply with the NFL’s Rooney Rule.
The lawsuit also alleges that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered Flores $100,000 per loss while the Dolphins struggled through the 2019 and demanded that he break NFL rules by tampering with a quarterback on another team’s roster. The lawsuit has a potential class of more than 40 members, according to Sporting News.
“God has gifted me with a special talent to coach the game of football, but the need for change is bigger than my personal goals,” Flores said in a statement earlier this month regarding his suit. “In making the decision to file the class action complaint, I understand that I may be risking coaching the game I love. My sincere hope is that by standing up against systemic racism in the NFL, others will join me to ensure that positive change is made for generations to come.”
Steelers president Art Rooney II has not made any public statement regarding the hiring of Flores, but defended the Rooney Rule, named for his father Dan Rooney, earlier this offseason in a statement addressing Flores’ lawsuit.
“While I acknowledge that we have not seen progress in the ranks of head coaching, we have seen marked improvement in the hiring of women and minorities in other key leadership rules such as coordinator positions, general manager positions, and front office positions both in and out of football operations,” Rooney said. “I believe this progress has been made as a result of the implementation of many of the enhances policies that were recently adopted.
“The Commissioner and League Executives, as well as the Diversity Committee, remain committed to working with all clubs, the Fritz Pollard Alliance, and others in making these efforts as effective as possible and building upon them to promote the desired impacts on hiring decisions in the League at all levels, including head coaching positions.”
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin did not address Flores’ lawsuit in a press release announcing the hire, simply citing his more-than capable resume for the position.