The Kansas City Chiefs are facing a racial discrimination lawsuit filed by a former NFL player and team employee.
In an exclusive obtained by the Daily Mail, Ramzee Robinson, a former player who spent nine years in the employ of the Kansas City Chiefs, claims that the Chiefs pay “their black business employees less than their white counterparts and fired a director of player engagement based on race after he complained about his relatively small salary,” the Daily Mail reports.
Robinson filed the complaint in the Western District of Missouri this week.
According to the complaint, Robinson, who is black, was fired in February after his superior, Kirsten Krug, accused him of assaulting a “white female coworker” named Melissa Weinsz. Krug claimed to have seen the attack on a video taken by a security camera, the complaint states.
The suit claims that Krug refused to share video of the incident when requested. In addition, the suit alleges Krug made “statements which suggested that [Robinson] was somehow dangerous and inappropriate around white female co-workers.”
Ramzee Robinson of the Detroit Lions poses for his 2009 NFL headshot at photo day in Detroit, Michigan. (NFL Photos)
The complaint then states that Krug promoted Weinsz to replace Robinson in the position of Director of Player Engagement, despite her lack of experience and credentials for the job.
Robinson’s tenure with the Chiefs began in 2016 when he was hired at a salary of $35,ooo. After his promotion to Director of Player Engagement, his salary rose to $125,000.
While those numbers suggest a nearly quadrupling of Robinson’s salary over nine years, the lawsuit claims that his final salary of $125,000 is still well below the average amount a Director of Player Engagement earns. The suit claims that the average salary of a player engagement director is $171,932, nearly $50,000 below what Robinson was making with the Chiefs.
The former NFL player also claims that Chiefs President Mark Donovan refused to meet with him about his salary.
“What’s more, Robinson alleges, the team fired an African-American woman making $50,000 annually only to replace her with Weinsz, who was allegedly given an $80,000 salary en route to her new position as director of player engagement,” the Daily Mail reports.
The claim further states the Chiefs blocked Robinson’s attempt to interview with another team.
Robinson is seeking a resolution through a jury trial.
A former member of the Alabama Crimson Tide, Robinson played for the Lions, Eagles, and Browns in his three-year NFL career.
