Having read through the whole lawsuit, it seems like it is indeed more bark than bite.
Flores is attempting to have it be certified as a class action suit. There are a few legal matters to hammer out before it can reach that point. The league would probably argue, imo, that they can list all the potential member in the class of Black coaches, for one. The other is that the circumstances that led to a departure, etc are not equal .
He asserts section 1981 has been violated by the teams. Violations of that law requires a "but-for" standard with regards to discrimination. That race alone plays a factor.
He lists the Giants, Broncos, and Dolphins individually, the other 29 teams, and the NFL.
On March 23, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States, in Comcast Corp. v. National Association of African-American Owned Media, ruled that a plaintiff who alleges race discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 must plead and has the ultimate burden of showing that race was a but-for cause of...
ogletree.com
The decision was a unanimous one by the Supreme Court.
Flores also filed with EOCC in preparation of filing a Title VII lawsuit as well in the future. This law covers more violations than section 1981, but there are differences in payout($300,000), statute of limitations, etc.
The most the NFL has to fear is the discovery process. Where maybe some internal documents get leaked out. But since each individual team is accused, there are many arguments to be made other whether they should even be defendants.
If class action certification fails, there's a good chance the case gets dismissed and Flores has the option of suing the Giants, Broncos, and Dolphins in their respective state courts. If it was mano-on-mano, him vs the organizations, I see no violations he can seriously prove.
Ultimately, a mostly frivolous lawsuit that conveniently drowns out coverage of far more damaging information to the league. Giants front office having loose tongues with Bill Belichick. Belichick making a "mistake", and in only a week after the text by Belichick, a suit is already filed. Lawyer hunting isn't that convenient. You might go to at least a couple consultations to see which one sells themselves better, they also have to make time to meet you. The date he actually retained Wigdor is something we'll never know, but it's 58 pages in less than 6 days at most.
www.nfl.com
