The Athletic’s Jim Trotter filed a lawsuit against the NFL in September, with the former NFL Media reporter claiming his contract was not renewed as retaliation for questioning NFL commissioner Roger Goodell about the league’s commitment to diversity, amongst other things.
Earlier this week, lawyers representing the NFL made it clear they’re looking to make the lawsuit go away.
Friday, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch sent a four-page letter to U.S. District Court Judge Paul Crotty explaining that the NFL intends to file motions to dismiss the case.
NEWS: Lawyers representing the NFL state in a filing that just hit the federal court docket the league intends to file motions to dismiss former NFL Network reporter Jim Trotter’s racial discrimination lawsuit along with requesting a stay in the case. pic.twitter.com/hiTD2KvJpS
— A.J. Perez (@byajperez) November 17, 2023
“In March 2020, after an initial two-year contract, the NFL renewed Plaintiff’s contract for another three years,” Lynch wrote. “In March 2023, Plaintiff’s contract expired and, as part of a broader cost-cutting measure and strategic shift away from traditional broadcast journalism and towards interactive media, the NFL made the decision not to renew the contracts of several reporters, including Plaintiff. That reasoning was communicated to Plaintiff and is well documented.”
In his original suit, Trotter included several instances of racial discrimination or decision-making that seemed to imply a desire to downplay concerns about racial issues and diversity within the NFL.
Trotter said he wanted to mention Jones on air during his coverage of Jon Gruden in 2021, as racist emails written by the former Raiders coach came to light, because he felt there was a pattern of dismissiveness toward diversity. The lawsuit claims that two of Trotter’s supervisors instructed him not to use Jones’s comment.
“Mr. Trotter raised his concerns on numerous occasions about the N.F.L.’s record on racial diversity and discrimination, but the N.F.L. did nothing to legitimately investigate or address his concerns — even though offensive conduct was being committed by people at the very top of the N.F.L. hierarchy,” the complaint said.
The lawsuit also included accusations against Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula for racial comments they made toward Trotter.
From the Jim Trotter complaint against the NFL. Note the quotes attributed to Jerry Jones and Terry Pegula. pic.twitter.com/mAQz27QxuR
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) September 12, 2023
In her letter to the judge, Lynch says that Trotter’s complaints are “fatally deficient” and that he “does not plausibly allege that he engaged in any protected activity supporting” a claim for retaliation.
“Plaintiff does not allege that he complained, including through his reporting, about any such [discriminatory] practice by the NFL,” she wrote. “His generalized allegations — that he questioned what he viewed as a ‘lack of diversity’ and was ‘skeptical’ of the NFL’s initiatives to promote diversity — do not suffice.”
No one should be too surprised by the NFL’s position, but it will be interesting to not only see what the judge thinks of their reasoning but how it influences their strategy given that this will all play out in a public way, rather than the NFL’s preferred behind-closed-doors meetings and arbitrations.
