Florida AG Uthmeier Subpoenas NFL in Rooney Rule Discrimination Probe

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued a subpoena to the NFL on Wednesday as part of a formal investigation into whether the league discriminates in hiring practices and other employment matters. Uthmeier had warned the league in March that its Rooney Rule may violate Florida's Civil Rights Act.

The subpoena, sent to NFL offices in New York and obtained by OutKick and Fox News, requires the league to appear at the Department of Legal Affairs, Office of the Attorney General, Office of Civil Rights, in Tallahassee on June 12 at 9 a.m.

It demands extensive records dating back to 2020, and earlier for some items, on the Rooney Rule, Offensive Assistant Mandate, Resolution JC-2A, Accelerator Program and Mackie Development Program. The records include internal policies, communications with government agencies, legal challenges such as the Brian Flores lawsuit, compliance tracking, enforcement actions and detailed hiring data including candidate race and sex.

The subpoena focuses on how the NFL defines "minority," verifies demographic status and uses race or gender in hiring decisions or incentives. It also seeks evidence of the league's intent and justification for these programs, along with communications with the EEOC, United States Department of Justice or other federal or state agencies about the initiatives.

Uthmeier's March 25 letter called the Rooney Rule a brazen violation of Florida law. "The Rooney Rule and its offshoots require precisely what Florida law forbids," he wrote. "They require teams to limit, segregate, and classify applicants for certain employment and training opportunities because of race and sex. And they do so in a way that tends to deprive applicants of opportunities for employment."

The NFL responded by May 1 through General Counsel Ted Ullyot, but Uthmeier found it insufficient. In a Wednesday letter, also obtained by OutKick and Fox News, he noted the league's website changes for the Rooney Rule and its claim of no longer requiring consideration of race or sex for at least one offensive assistant.

"My office appreciates the NFL’s stated commitment to equal opportunity and nondiscrimination," Uthmeier wrote. "We also appreciate how quickly the NFL changed its website in response to our letter, as well as the NFL’s assertion that it no longer requires the consideration of race or sex in the hiring of at least one offensive assistant. Unfortunately, neither your letter nor the changes to your website assuage our concerns over the NFL’s violations of Florida law. In fact, they raise new ones."

Uthmeier criticized the Rooney Rule further: "You also claim the Rule does not license clubs to consider race or sex in making hiring decisions. But according to your own statements, its very point is to do just that. Through hiring best practices, the Rooney Rule aims to increase the number of minorities hired in head coach, general manager, and executive positions."

He quoted the NFL's Executive Vice President: "The Rooney Rule and other policy adjustments are necessary until we see organizations doing the right thing for the right reasons in hiring individuals."

"In the end, year after year, the NFL has bemoaned the hiring of 'white' coaches rather than 'coaches of color.' This obsession with hiring based on race is wrong. It also violates Florida law," Uthmeier wrote.

The investigation aims to relieve the Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers from applying what Uthmeier calls illegal hiring practices for coaches and personnel executives. The NFL had no immediate comment.