{"id":270229,"date":"2026-05-14T01:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T01:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/270229\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T01:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T01:02:13","slug":"nfls-response-to-florida-a-g-explains-that-its-diversity-policies-do-not-compel-hiring-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/270229\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL’s response to Florida A.G. explains that its diversity policies do not compel hiring decisions"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Florida attorney general James Uthmeier posted his latest letter<\/a> to the NFL regarding his ongoing assault against the league\u2019s diversity policies, he didn\u2019t include the league\u2019s response to his initial letter. To have a full understanding of the situation, it would be helpful to have both.<\/p>\n

And so we\u2019ve obtained and reviewed the May 1 letter from NFL general counsel Ted Ullyot to Uthmeier.<\/p>\n

The four-page letter explains the league\u2019s position regarding the manner in which its diversity policies comply with Florida law and federal law. The letter also clarifies some of the information contained in Uthmeier\u2019s initial letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cSimply put, the NFL does not permit the consideration of race, sex, or any other legally protected characteristic in any hiring decisions or employment actions,\u201d Ullyot writes in the opening paragraph of the letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiversity of the candidate pool, both on the field and off, is also a critical part of the NFL\u2019s success, and \u2018it is the policy of the NFL and all member clubs to hire from a broad, diverse, and growing pool of high caliber talent, and to support equal opportunity and fair hiring practices throughout the League,\u2019\u201d Ullyot says. \u201cThe League defines \u2018diversity\u2019 expansively to include the \u2018broad ranges of human difference among us.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

As to the Rooney Rule, Ullyot explains that it does not \u201ccompel any hiring or discharge decision, or direct that anyone be \u2018discriminated against.\u2019 It operates solely in the interview process, such that clubs consider a broad set of candidates before making a hiring decision. It does not prevent a club from interviewing any candidate.\u201d (Emphasis in original.)<\/p>\n

Ullyot\u2019s letter also emphasizes that various other NFL diversity policies do not mandate hiring decisions.<\/p>\n

As to the recent revisions to the NFL\u2019s website regarding the Rooney Rule, footnote 11 at page 3 explains that Uthmeier\u2019s letter \u201chas brought to our attention some outdated information.\u201d The footnote states that the \u201cinformation is in the process of being updated to accurately reflect the NFL\u2019s current programs and policies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uthmeier obviously wasn\u2019t persuaded by Ullyot\u2019s letter, given the response Uthmeier sent to the NFL on May 13 \u2014 and in light of the subpoena Uthmeier has served on the NFL. Regardless, the battle lines have been drawn; the NFL believes its policies require a broad search, and that the policies do not infringe on the ability of the individual teams to hire whomever they choose. Uthmeier believes otherwise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Florida attorney general James Uthmeier posted his latest letter to the NFL regarding his ongoing assault against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270230,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-270229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}