UNDER FIRE

Ex-Texans General Manager Brian Gaine ‘Targeted’ Black Employees for Firings: Report

NFL team’s former security coordinator alleges Houston’s now-dismissed Brian Gaine singled out eight black employees in his one and only season.

Former Houston Texans General Manager Brian Gaine “targeted” black staffers in a series of firings from the NFL team, a former employee has alleged in complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission this week. Jeff Pope, a former Texans security coordinator dismissed by the team on May 8, alleges Gaine fired at least eight other black employees after he took over in January 2018. “It appeared, and I believe, that he was targeting all minorities in leadership positions and was set to replace them with non-African-Americans. Which he did,” Pope’s complaint states. The former employee said it became evident that black employees were “being singled out/targeted” after Gaine allegedly yelled at him for eating in the players’ cafeteria, despite Pope doing so since 2017. “We have just been made aware of Mr. Pope’s claim,” the Texans said in a statement to Houston Chronicle. “We do not comment on pending litigation. The Houston Texans do not tolerate personal or professional discrimination of any kind.” Gaine was fired by the Texans last Friday after just one season with the team.