Bills supporters are furious with the head coach’s lackadaisical demeanor.
Jim Trotter, an experienced sports journalist, has filed a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the NFL and NFL Network. He claims that after questioning the league and its commissioner, Roger Goodell, about the lack of diversity in coaching and management, he was fired from his position as an NFL Network reporter earlier this year.
In addition to damages, Trotter is requesting a “award of equitable relief necessary to force the NFL to remedy and change its discriminatory and retaliatory practices” in the federal lawsuit, which was filed in New York on Tuesday. The Wigdor law firm, which has also defended former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores in his racial discrimination case against the NFL, is his legal representation.
Two NFL owners, Terry Pegula of the Buffalo Bills and Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys, are also accused in his 53-page complaint of making offensive remarks in 2020. Both owners refuted the allegations on Tuesday.
What charges were made against Jerry Jones and Terry Pegula?
Before the Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers played for the Hall of Fame in August 2020, according to Trotter, he was on the field and questioned why there weren’t more Black decision-makers on NFL clubs.
In the end, Jones allegedly said, “If Blacks feel some kind of way, they should buy their own team and hire who they want to hire,” according to the lawsuit.
Jones issued a statement on Tuesday in response.
“The NFL and I both place a high value on diversity and inclusion,” he stated. “The representation made by Jim Trotter of a conversation that occurred over three years ago with myself and our VP of Player Personnel Will McClay is simply not accurate.”
Jim Trotter, an NFL Network reporter, speaks during a press conference on February 8, 2023, in Phoenix, Arizona, at the Phoenix Convention Center.
A month or two later, in September 2020, a second NFL Media reporter wrote about a discussion he had with Pegula regarding NFL players’ support for Black Lives Matter and social activity.
Trotter filed a complaint alleging that Pegula said, “If the Black players don’t like it here, they should go back to Africa and see how bad it is,” during a Zoom meeting with other NFL Media staff members.
Trotter, a Black broadcaster, expressed his disapproval of these remarks but claimed he was instructed not to bring up Jones’ remarks live and that the league had “swept under the rug” Pegula’s purported remarks.
Pegula released a statement on Tuesday as well.
