Brian Flores, the former head coach of the Miami Dolphins, sued the NFL and each of its 32 teams, alleging racial discrimination in their hiring practices for Black coaches.

The suit, which was filed as a proposed class action, specifically calls out the New York Giants, Denver Broncos, and the Dolphins—the latter of which recently fired Flores after two straight winning seasons—for discriminatory practices. Some examples:

• The lawsuit accuses Dolphins owner Stephen Ross of bribing Flores to have the team “tank” (offering him $100,000 for each loss) ahead of the 2019 season in order to secure a better draft pick.
• Flores accused the Giants of conducting a “sham” interview with him in order to fulfill the Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview Black applicants for open positions. The Giants responded that Flores was in the conversation “until the eleventh hour” before they went with someone else.
• Flores claims that he was also not taken seriously as a candidate for the Denver Broncos head coaching position when he interviewed there. Then-general manager John Elway and others in his crew allegedly showed up to the interview an hour late and seemed like they were hungover. The Broncos said the accusations were "blatantly false."

Big picture: The NFL has long been criticized for the lack of minority representation in its coaching ranks. Despite ~70% of the league's players being Black, it currently has only one Black head coach.

In a statement, the NFL responded that “diversity is core to everything we do” and it will “defend against these claims, which are without merit.”

What does Flores want?

Among other changes, he’s asked a judge for...

• Unspecified damages.
• More pay transparency for GMs, head coaches, and coordinators.
• More Black people involved in the hiring process and more objectivity in the hiring/firing of coaches and front office roles.

Bottom line: Flores acknowledged in a statement that he is risking future career opportunities in the NFL by suing the league. “My sincere hope is that by standing up against systemic racism in the NFL, others will join me to ensure that positive change is made for generations to come,” he said.—NF

The number of people who died in motor vehicle crashes surged to 31,720 in the first nine months of 2021, the government reported yesterday.

• It’s the biggest nine-month tally in 15 years.
• It’s also 12% higher than in the same time frame in 2020, making it the biggest percentage increase over a nine-month period since records began in 1975.

You might be thinking that the spike can be attributed to a lower number of traffic deaths in 2020, when Covid kept us indoors, but the opposite is true: US traffic fatalities that year jumped to their highest levels since 2007—despite the number of vehicle-miles traveled on roads plummeting 13%.

What’s going on? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has cited more reckless driving since the pandemic began, including drivers not wearing seatbelts and blowing through speed limits.

• But Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who called the surge in road deaths a “national crisis,” thinks blaming humans won’t solve anything. “People make mistakes, but human mistakes don’t always have to be lethal.”

According to Buttigieg, the key to bringing down traffic deaths is a combo of redesigning roads to be safer, boosting safety standards for vehicles, and incorporating technology like automated braking into vehicles.

There’s a reason they don’t call it Medium Oil, folks. Fueled by soaring energy prices, Exxon Mobil reported annual profits of $23 billion last year—the company's largest total since 2014.

• Exxon’s 2021 gain is a full 180 from its 2020 performance, when the company lost $22.4 billion as demand for oil collapsed.

Zoom out: Things are looking up for the entire sector thanks to a rebound in energy consumption as governments tapered Covid measures. Exxon’s competitor, Chevron, also recently posted its most profitable year since 2014 when it put $15.6 billion in the bank.

What’ll they do with the money? Well for one, keep producing oil and gas. In the Permian Basin of West Texas, Exxon plans to increase oil production by 25% in 2022. The company is also saying “thx” to investors who stuck around, announcing plans to buy back as much as $10 billion in shares over the next two years.

• The S&P 500 energy sector is up about 23% so far in 2022, compared to the broader index, which is down about 5% on the year.

And the climate? In January, Exxon pledged to reduce or offset emissions from its operations to zero by 2050—though that doesn’t include most of the emissions associated with the company, which come from its products actually being used.—MK

Quote: “This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather.”

Bill Murray enthusiastically wishes all of you a Happy Groundhog Day.

Stat: Employees at 54 Starbucks stores across 19 states are petitioning to unionize, just weeks after baristas formed the first union at a corporate-owned location in Buffalo. Talk about a chain reaction.

Read: The new hire who showed up is not the same person we interviewed. (Ask a Manager)

Even if you feel guilty about the occasional Mario Kart grand prix during an all-staff meeting, working from home is proving to be a benefit to both employees and employers. The latest results of a monthly survey of 4,000 US workers provide a few interesting insights about WFH.

The January survey, which polled workers aged 20 to 64, showed:

• Remote workers save about one full hour every day by not commuting.
• Another 10 minutes is saved by skipping grooming tasks like showering, shaving, and putting on makeup.

So, while rolling out of bed and opening Slack may feel disgusting, it’s actually nearing peak human efficiency.

But, the benefit isn’t just for workers who get to avoid buying button-downs at Nordstrom Rack: Of those 70 daily minutes saved, about 30 minutes are spent working, which tacks on an additional two and a half hours onto the workweek. And employees don’t seem to mind the extra labor, as the average worker plans to stay remote for two days a week even after the pandemic ends.

Two bonus stats: 1) About 10% fewer people use an alarm clock when WFH and 2) workers who commute spend about 28 minutes getting ready, compared to 19 minutes for remote employees.—MK

Animal planet: Here’s a stunning photo essay of polar bears who’ve moved into an abandoned weather station, and a thread of crab superlatives.

Gary Vee opens up: The outspoken entrepreneur, branding expert, and investor came on Business Casual to share some of his hottest takes about the business world. Give it a listen.

Oh my gourd: Lose yourself in the saga of the pumpkin cowboy.

Word search: How well do you know your Lunar zodiac symbols? Find out by playing our puzzle.

Find the missing link

What do the following names all have in common?

Kara’s Flowers, The Warlocks, On a Friday, Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem, Starfish

They’re all previous names of popular bands.

Kara’s Flowers became Maroon 5.
The Warlocks became The Grateful Dead.
On a Friday became Radiohead.
Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem became The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Starfish became Coldplay.