Brian Flores vs NFL: A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the NFL can face civil claims from Brian Flores and other Black coaches alleging discrimination, rejecting the league’s effort to force the former Miami Dolphins head coach into arbitration overseen by Commissioner Roger Goodell.
The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld US District Judge Valerie Caproni’s earlier decision, allowing Flores to pursue his lawsuit against the NFL and three franchises, the Denver Broncos, New York Giants, and Houston Texans.
In his opinion, Circuit Judge Jose A Cabranes wrote that the league’s arbitration rules, which would require Flores to bring his claims before Goodell, fail to meet the standards of the Federal Arbitration Act because they “provide for arbitration in name only.”
The NFL constitution’s arbitration clause, the court said, offers “no independent arbitral forum, no bilateral dispute resolution, and no procedure.” Instead, it “offends basic presumptions of our arbitration jurisprudence” by placing final authority in the hands of the NFL’s “principal executive officer.”
NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy responded, saying: “We respectfully disagree with the panel’s ruling, and will be seeking further review.”
Attorneys Douglas H Wigdor and David E Gottlieb, representing Flores, welcomed the decision. “This ruling sends a clear message: that practice must end,” they said, arguing that the NFL’s arbitration process has long been biased and unfair.
What did Brian Flores allege?
Flores filed his lawsuit in February 2022, accusing the league of being “rife with racism,” especially in hiring and promoting Black coaches. Two other coaches later joined the suit, which seeks class-action status, though Caproni previously ruled their claims must go to arbitration due to the terms of their contracts.
Flores has said he knew the lawsuit could jeopardize the career he loves but pursued it for the sake of future generations, hoping to challenge systemic racism within the sport.
Currently the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, Flores previously spent over a decade with the New England Patriots (2008–2018) before serving as head coach of the Dolphins (2019–2021) and working for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022. He joined the Vikings in 2023.
In a 2023 ruling, Judge Caproni noted that the coaches’ accounts of discrimination in a league with a “long history of systematic discrimination toward Black players, coaches, and managers are incredibly troubling.” She added, “Although the clear majority of professional football players are Black, only a tiny percentage of coaches are Black.”
