Veteran journalist sues NFL for discrimination & retaliation
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Sports journalist Jim Trotter, who used to work for NFL Media, filed a lawsuit against the league and NFL Media on Tuesday alleging discrimination and
retaliation.
The lawsuit mentions a comment about Black people allegedly made by Bills owner Terry Pegula.
In the lawsuit, the veteran journalist lists dozens of specific examples of when he says the NFL and NFL Media did not properly address issues of diversity in the workplace. Jim Trotter's contract with NFL Media was not renewed earlier this year. He has worked for the league since 2018 and has more than thirty years of sports journalism experience.
On Tuesday, he filed a lawsuit against the NFL, and his former employer, NFL Media, alleging discrimination and retaliation. The lawsuit documents examples where Trotter voiced concerns about how the league was handling race issues involving Black people. Several NFL higher-ups and owners are mentioned in the lawsuit, including Terry Pegula. It's alleged that in a 2020 Zoom meeting involving about forty NFL Media employees, one of the reporters described a conversation he says he had with Pegula about social activism and the Black Lives Matter movement where Pegula allegedly said, "If the Black players don't like it here, they should go back to Africa and see how bad it is." Trotter asked his supervisors to address this issue and the comment and said nothing ever happened despite following up several times.
Attorney Cheryl Meyers-Buth is also a certified agent for the NBA Players' Association and owns a sports and entertainment agency that represents players. She says to her the lawsuit reads like a press release.
"It sounds like a political manifesto. It sounds like this person really believes in diversity and is trying to use the lawsuit to promote his political goals," said attorney Cheryl Meyers-Buth.
2 On Your Side asked her how Trotter hearing a co-worker on Zoom describe the alleged comment made by Pegula, and not hearing it for himself, impacts the lawsuit. "I'm unaware of any witnesses who heard the comment, and you would think if it was part of a Zoom meeting that it would have been recorded or that there would have been other people speaking out about it, so I don't think it's the strongest part of the lawsuit," said Cheryl Meyers-Buth.
Shortly after news of the lawsuit broke, Terry Pegula released a statement on social media saying, "The statement attributed to me in Mr. Trotter's complaint is absolutely false. I am horrified that anyone would connect me to an allegation of this kind. Racism has no place in our society and I am personally disgusted that my name is associated with this complaint."
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and unspecified damages. It also requests a court-ordered monitor to review the NFL's policies and to make changes when it comes to the hiring and advancement of Black people within the league.