Jim Trotter files response to NFL’s effort to dismiss his wrongful termination lawsuit

The battle before the battle has been joined.

The NFL, unable to take the Jim Trotter lawsuit to arbitration (i.e., the secret, rigged kangaroo court), will first defend itself against Trotter’s claims by trying to get them thrown out. On Friday, Trotter’s lawyers filed his response to the NFL’s motion to dismiss.

PFT has obtained and reviewed a copy of the 22-page document. And while briefs of this nature are routinely riddled with legalese and citations to other cases decided in the past, the most potent stuff comes from preliminary statements that summarize the argument.

At page one of the Trotter response, he attacks the league’s position as being “more notable for what it ignores than what it states.” And the “Preliminary Statement” to the memorandum of law then explains the facts the NFL “largely ignore[s].”

First, Trotter’s lawyers point out that the NFL “largely ignore[s] the fact that the Complaint alleges that Mr. Trotter engaged in three specific instances of clearly protected activity that each occurred two months, three weeks, and 12 days, respectively, before his termination.”

Second, Trotter’s lawyers write that the NFL ignores that Trotter “expressly raised the fact that the NFL failed to hire or promote a Black person into a leadership position in NFL Media or a full-time position on the NFL Media news desk.”

Third, Trotter’s lawyers explain that Trotter drew an “express parallel” between that dynamic and the pending lawsuit filed by Brian Flores and others against the NFL, for racial discrimination in the coaching context.

Fourth, Trotter’s lawyers note that he “gave examples of discriminatory slurs used by NFL team owners . . . about Black players.”

Fifth, Trotter’s lawyers argue that, before Trotter made his complaints, Trotter was told that his employment contract would be renewed and his role “could even be enhanced.”

The rest of the document provides the details to back up those basic propositions, before turning to the application of the law to…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/jim-trotter-files-response-nfls-160541447.html

Author : ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-03-02 16:05:41

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