A former NFL Enterprises camera crew assistant is suing the organization, alleging he was the victim of a management pattern of giving more shifts to younger employees and that he was not rehired after a coronavirus-related 2020 layoff because he was outspoken.
Adam Gotsens' Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges wrongful termination and whistleblower retaliation. He seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages as well as a court order directing NFL Enterprises from retaliating against employees who speak out against alleged management wrongdoing. The suit filed Wednesday does not state Gotsens' age.
An NFL Enterprises representative said Thursday that the organization had no comment on the suit.
Gotsens was hired in September 2014 and assisted the camera crew in such shows such as "NFL Gameday" and "NFL Total Access," as well as at football games, the suit states.
Gotsens contacted human resources out of concern that a young, female newcomer with little experience was being given more shifts and opportunities than others who had worked for NFL Enterprises for many years, including older workers such as himself with more experience and skills, according to the suit.
"It is unheard of for a new (employee) to get more than one or two days a week, especially with no training," Gotsens wrote. "This is unbelievably disrespectful to the people who have put years of their lives in this place."
Human resources failed to address the matter, so Gotsens complained to David Shaw, vice president of production, telling Shaw that he believed the worker in question could have been hired because of a personal relationship with personnel who played a role in deciding who to hire or schedule for shifts, the suit states.
Gotsens asked Shaw to refrain from mentioning his name to the scheduling department so as not to lose shifts because he was a whistleblower, the suit states. However, Shaw later told Gotsens that NFL Enterprises "saw things differently and did not believe that anything improper had occurred" in the younger employee's hiring, the suit states.
Gotsens continued to complain about younger employees getting more shifts than older veterans and when the coronavirus pandemic started in 2020, many workers, including the plaintiff, were laid off, according to the suit, which further states that Gotsens began inquiring later that year about returning to his job.
"Mr. Gotsens contacted NFL Enterprises on several occasions for work," the suit states. "However, NFL Enterprises simply stopped hiring him for shifts and has not hired him since."
Gotsens believes that many of the younger, less experienced workers who were his onetime colleagues were rehired and that NFL Enterprises has refused to bring him back because he complained about management practices that the plaintiff thought violated federal or state law, the suit states.
Gotsens has suffered lost wages and experienced emotional distress, the suit further states.
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