A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that former NFL head coach Brian Flores’ racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL can go to trial. The court rejected the league’s attempt to force Flores into arbitration with Commissioner Roger Goodell as the arbitrator.
Shortly after being fired as head coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2022, Flores filed a lawsuit against the league, the Dolphins, the Denver Broncos, the New York Giants and the Houston Texans for discrimination, alleging that the NFL is “rife with racism.” Flores accused those teams of conducting sham interviews to satisfy the NFL’s Rooney Rule for diversity hires. Several other coaches later joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs.
Flores’ attorney, Douglas Wigdor, praised the ruling against arbitration in a statement saying, “For too long, the NFL has relied on a fundamentally biased and unfair arbitration process — even in cases involving serious claims of discrimination. This ruling sends a clear message: that practice must end. This is a victory not only for NFL employees, but for workers across the country — and for anyone who believes in transparency, accountability and justice.”
A February analysis by The Associated Press found 31 of 173 new NFL coaches were Black between 2000 and 2024.
The appeals court said the NFL’s rules forcing Flores to submit his claims to arbitration before Goodell do not have the protection of the Federal Arbitration Act because it “provides for arbitration in name only.” Judge Jose A. Cabranes wrote that the league’s provision “contractually provides for no independent arbitral forum, no bilateral dispute resolution, and no procedure.”
NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in response, “We respectfully disagree with the panel’s ruling, and will be seeking further review.”
Flores is about to begin his third season as defensive coordinator for the Vikings. During the 2023 offseason, he did not receive any interview requests from teams looking for a head coach. He was asked if he thought it was because of the ongoing lawsuit.
“There’s no way to know. It’s not really something I’m spending a lot of time thinking about,” Flores said in 2024. “You know, I try to be where my feet are. It’s here with the Vikings, but yeah. I mean, I try not to worry about things I have no control over.”
During this most recent hiring cycle, Flores was interviewed by the New York Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears for their head coaching jobs but did not advance to a second interview with any of those teams.
Flores has yet to comment on the interview process or the ongoing lawsuit during a pair of training camp press conferences this summer.
