Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores alleged that he turned down millions of dollars by not signing a non-disparagement agreement that he claims team owner Stephen Ross asked him to sign.
“Just signing that separation agreement would have really silenced me,” Flores said in an episode of HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel that airs Tuesday night.
The Dolphins, however, deny Flores's allegation.
“The latest assertion by Brian Flores that Steve Ross mentioned an NDA to him is categorically false,” the statement read, per the Miami Herald’s Daniel Oyefusi. “This just did not happen and we simply cannot understand why Brian continues this pattern of making unfounded statements that he knows are untrue.
“We are fully cooperating with the NFL investigation and look forward to all of the facts coming out which we are confident will prove that his claims are false and defamatory.”
The 40-year-old coach is suing the league, three franchises and unidentified individuals, alleging discrimination and racism in hiring practices. Among the complaints listed in the filing, Flores said he took part in two “sham” interviews as teams attempted to comply with the Rooney Rule. The Giants and Broncos were the two teams, in addition to the Dolphins, he is explicitly filing litigation against.
The proposed class action states: “The Rooney Rule is also not working because management is not doing the interviews in good-faith, and it therefore creates a stigma that interviews of Black candidates are only being done to comply with the Rooney Rule rather than in recognition of the talents that the Black candidates possess.”
Flores also alleged that Ross offered him a $100,000 bonus for each loss during the 2019 season in attempt to secure the league’s worst record and the No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft. Flores says he didn’t comply with the request.
The team owner, however, has previously called the allegations “false, malicious and defamatory.”
The former Miami coach was recently added to the Steelers coaching staff as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach.
Doug Wigdor, one of Flores's lawyers, said on the HBO program that the coach chose not to sign the agreement and wanted to focus on future opportunities for minority coaches in the NFL.
“If it was about the money, he would have signed it... He filed the lawsuit so that he could help other coaches, now and in the future,” Wigdor said.
