Cyrus Mehri

Cyrus Mehri (born July 14, 1961) is an American attorney and partner at Mehri & Skalet. He is best known for helping to establish the National Football League’s (NFL) Rooney Rule.

Professional history

In 2001, together with Steven Skalet, Mehri founded Mehri & Skalet, a law firm that specializes in discrimination, civil and consumer-rights violations, and corporate fraud.

Mehri’s most notable cases are as follows, many of which resulted in the creation of an outside task force or monitor:

• Roberts v. Texaco (1997)^[1] (covered in the book, Roberts vs. Texaco: A True Story of Race and Corporate America, by Bari-Ellen Roberts)
• Ingram v. The Coca-Cola Company (2001)^[2] (covered in the book, The Real Thing: Truth and Power at the Coca-Cola Company, by Constance L. Hays)
• Robinson v. Ford (2005)
• August-Johnson v. Morgan Stanley (2007)
• Amachoev v. Smith Barney (2008)
• Norflet v. John Hancock Life Insurance (2009)
• Carter v. Wells Fargo Advisors (2011)
• Brown v. Medicis Pharmaceutical (2013)

The Rooney Rule

In 2002, Mehri cowrote, with Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., a report titled Black Coaches in the National Football League: Superior Performance, Inferior Opportunities. In response, the NFL adopted the Rooney Rule. Named after Pittsburgh Steelers’ owner Dan Rooney, the rule requires that at least one minority candidate be interviewed for the positions of head coach or general manager.^[3] Mehri’s work with the NFL formed the basis of the book, Advancing the Ball: Race, Reformation, and the Quest for Equal Coaching Opportunity in the NFL, by N. Jeremi Duru.

In 2015, the English Football League adapted the Rooney Rule for professional soccer in the United Kingdom.^[4]

Other entities that have implemented versions of the rule include the cities of Portland^[5] and Pittsburgh,^[6] and the companies Xerox, Intel, Facebook, Pinterest, and Amazon.^[7]

The Fritz Pollard Alliance

In 2003, Mehri cofounded the Fritz Pollard Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to diversity in the NFL.^[8] This affinity group helps minorities secure off-the-field leadership positions in the league,^[9] and at various points was led by former NFL players including John Wooten (currently its chairman), Harry Carson (currently its executive director), and Kellen Winslow.^[10]

Women on Wall Street

In 2004, together with the National Council of Women’s Organizations, Mehri launched the Women on Wall Street project. The project seeks to end discrimination against women in financial institutions, and has reached settlements with Morgan Stanley,^[11] Smith Barney,^[12] and Wachovia,^[13] among others.

Education

Mehri graduated from Hartwick College in 1983 and Cornell Law School in 1988.

References