Jim Trotter has filed a racial discrimination suit against the NFL and NFL Media, where he was employed until earlier this year.
Trotter’s contract was not renewed. While the decision was made after Trotter made headlines for asking Commissioner Roger Goodell about the league’s lack of commitment to diversity in its newsroom at the Super Bowl, the league maintains that the two incidents are not linked. Trotter declined a three-month severance package from the league because it required him to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
According to a lawsuit filed in a Manhattan federal court, Trotter believes the two incidents are very much linked. He also claims that he was instructed by his bosses not to use comments from Cowboys owners Jerry Jones when covering the leaked emails from Jon Gruden showing the then-Raiders’ coach making racist comments.
“Mr. Trotter raised his concerns on numerous occasions about the NFL’s record on racial diversity and discrimination, but the NFL 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 reads.
In 2020, Trotter, in an interview for NFL Media, asked Jones about the lack of Black faces in positions of power inside of NFL front offices.
“If Blacks feel some kind of way, they should buy their own team and hire who they want to hire,” Jones responded according to the lawsuit.
He also claims that Bills owner Tom Pegula responded “If the Black payers don’t like it here, they should go back to Africa and see how bad it is,” when asked about racial justice protests. Pegula and the Buffalo Bills took to social media to deny the accusation.
Trotter claims he brought both incidents up to the league, but no action was ever taken.
Following his exit from NFL Media, Trotter signed on with The Athletic.
“I hope this lawsuit leads to real change across the league and in the newsroom,” Trotter said in a statement posted on social media. “It is on the backs of a majority Black player population that owners have made billions and those players deserve to have someone who shares their cultural and life experiences at the table when decisions are being made about how they are being covered.”