Employment Discrimination and the National Football League
There is a great debate as to whether employment discrimination laws are necessary or whether market forces will eliminate employment discrimination altogether. Even though there are Federal, New York State and New York City laws in place to stem discrimination in the workplace, there is no denying that employment discrimination is still rampant throughout all industries. Some corporations have realized this and have decided to take matters into their own hands by establishing their own policies against employment discrimination. However, these polices created by corporations only add fuel to the fire for the ongoing debate.
Such corporate anti-discrimination policies are no more publicized than the National Football League’s (NFL) Rooney Rule. The Rooney Rule, named after Pittsburgh Steelers Owner Dan Rooney, was established in 2003, requiring teams to interview at least one minority candidate for each Head Coach position available. Since the rule has been in effect, African-American coaches in the NFL jumped from 6% in 2003 to 22%, which is certainly a stark improvement in only five years. However, while diversity is increasing it is not without controversy.
Recently, in an example of both the pro and con side of the debate, the St. Louis Rams fired Head Coach Scott Linehan and promoted the Assistant Coach, Jim Haslett, a Caucasian man, to the position. In Haslett’s contract, there was a clause that guaranteed him the head coaching job for the following season if the Rams were to win six games with him as Head Coach. If the Rams do win six games, they will have never had the opportunity to interview a minority candidate for the position and the NFL will automatically void Haslett’s contract for next season. What we are left with is that the Rams will be forced to renegotiate a new contract with Haslett, likely costing the team more money than they have already agreed to pay and having to hold a bogus interview with a minority candidate. But what minority candidate would agree to a sham interview solely to help the Rams play by the rules? And so the debate marches on.
