NFL Intends To File Motion To Compel Brian Flores’ Lawsuit Into Arbitration
The NFL expressed an intention to file a motion to compel former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores’ alleged racial discrimination lawsuit into arbitration.
According to ESPN, Flores’ attorneys pushed back on the NFL’s intended move, saying it eliminates much-needed transparency in the case.
"We have said from the start that if the NFL wants to create change, the first step is to allow for transparency," Douglas H. Wigdor of Wigdor LLP and John Elefterakis of EEP Law said in a statement, according to the sports news network. "The NFL's attempt to force these claims into arbitration demonstrates an unmistakable desire to avoid any public accountability and ensure that these claims are litigated behind closed doors in a forum stacked against our clients.
"We will fight this request in court, but Mr. Goodell should have done the right thing, disclaimed arbitration altogether and allowed this case to be tried before a jury representing a cross-section of the community, just like those who watch football."
Standard NFL contracts often call for disputes to be settled in private arbitration rather than the judicial system, and the Dolphins, one of the teams listed as a defendant in the case, previously requested the NFL to prompt the case to move into arbitration.
Flores’ suit against the pro football league includes his former team, the Denver Broncos, New York Giants, Houston Texans, the Titans and Cardinals, as well as 26 other “John Doe” NFL Teams after two more plaintiffs joined.
Attorneys for Flores allege in the amended complaint, filed in the Southern District of New York, that the Texans “retaliated” against Flores by removing him from consideration for their head-coaching vacancy "due to his decision to file this action and speak publicly about systemic discrimination in the NFL."
The complaint asks for, among other things, increased transparency in NFL hiring, incentives for hiring Black coaches and increased visibility for Black assistant coaches, according to ESPN.
Flores is currently the Pittsburgh Steelers’ linebackers coach and defensive assistant.
There are currently only six minority head coaches in the NFL. Two were fired and three were hired this offseason. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has since stated that every option is on the table in regards to combating the league’s fraught past in dealing with racism, including replacing the league’s Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview two minority coaches before making a final decision on a hire.
Flores filed the discrimination lawsuit in February, alleging he was discriminated against during his interview processes with the Broncos and Giants and firing from the Dolphins in January.
Flores says that as the team won games, Ross allegedly offered him $100,000 for every game he’d lose. Miami general manager Chris Grier told him that Ross was “mad” that Flores’ late-season winning was “compromising [the team’s] draft position.”
The suit also includes text messages he alleges are from New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick demonstrating that the Giants conducted an interview with Flores knowing they intended to hire someone else to be head coach and to comply with the Rooney Rule.
