The Kansas City Chiefs have paid their black business employees less than their white counterparts and fired a director of player engagement on the basis of race after he complained about his relatively small salary, according to a federal lawsuit obtained by Daily Mail.
Ramzee Robinson, a former NFL player who spent the last nine years working for the Chiefs, filed suit against the team in the Western District of Missouri this week. The 11-page complaint explains that Robinson, who is African American, was fired by the Chiefs in February after his superior, Kirsten Krug, accused him of attacking a ‘white female coworker’ named Melissa Weinsz – something Krug claimed to have witnessed on security footage.
However, the complaint claims Krug refused to share the footage upon request and also accuses her of making ‘some statements which suggested that [Robinson] was somehow dangerous and inappropriate around white female co-workers.’
Krug then hired Weinsz to replace Robinson despite her relative lack of experience, according to the complaint. Weinsz currently has a pinned April post up on her X page announcing her new position: ‘Director of Player Engagement loading… New position, new season, same vision.’
Daily Mail has reached out to Chiefs spokespeople for comment.
Robinson says he began working for the Chiefs in 2016, when he earned a ‘meager starting salary’ of just $35,000. By the time he was promoted to director of player engagement, though, that figure had risen to $125,000.
Ramzee Robinson, a former NFL player who spent the last nine years working for the Chiefs, filed suit against the team in the Western District of Missouri this week
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Still, comparable positions around the NFL earn an average of $171,932 annually, according to the complaint, which goes on to claim team president Mark Donovan refused to meet with Robinson to discuss 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 lawsuit also accuses the Chiefs of tortious interference, claiming Robinson had a ‘valid and reasonable business expectancy with another NFL team who requested to interview’ him, only for Kansas City to deny him the opportunity to interview.
Robinson is demanding a jury trial.
A 41-year-old native of Huntsville, Alabama, Robinson played cornerback for the Crimson Tide before being taken in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL Draft.
He went on to play parts of three seasons in the NFL, before a few practice-squad stints and two seasons with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.
