Court rules NFL can go on trial in Brian Flores’ racial discrimination suit

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00:00A discrimination lawsuit filed by former NFL head coach Brian Flores against the NFL can

00:05proceed to trial. That ruling came from the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan on

00:11Thursday. By allowing a trial to go forward against the NFL and several teams, the court

00:19rejected the league's attempt to force Flores into arbitration with Commissioner Roger Goodell

00:25as the arbitrator. Shortly after being fired as head coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2022,

00:31Flores filed a lawsuit against the league, the Dolphins, the Denver Broncos, New York Giants,

00:36and Houston Texans for discrimination, alleging that the NFL is rife with racism. Flores accused

00:43those teams of conducting sham interviews to satisfy the NFL's Rooney rule for diversity hires.

00:49Flores' attorney, Douglas Wigdor, praised the ruling against arbitration in a statement, saying,

00:56For too long, the NFL has relied on a fundamentally biased and unfair arbitration process, even in

01:03cases involving serious claims of discrimination. This ruling sends a clear message that practice

01:09must end. This is a victory not only for the NFL employees, but for workers across the country.

01:15The appeals court said the NFL's rules forcing Flores to submit his claims to arbitration before

01:21Goodell do not have the protection of the Federal Arbitration Act because it provides for arbitration

01:28in name only. NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in response,

01:32We respectfully disagree with the panel's ruling and will be seeking further review.

01:38Flores is about to begin his third season as defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings.

01:42During the 2023 offseason, he did not receive any interview requests from teams looking for a head

01:48coach. He was asked if he thought it was because of the ongoing lawsuit.

01:52There's no way to know. I don't, it's not really something I'm spending a lot of time thinking about.

01:59You know, I try to be where my feet are. It's here with the Vikings.

02:02But yeah, I mean, I don't, you know, I try not to, you know, worry about things I have no control over.

02:12During this most recent head coaching cycle, Flores was interviewed by the Jets, Jaguars, and Bears for their

02:18respective jobs, but did not advance to a second interview with any of those teams.

02:23Flores has yet to comment on the interview process or the ongoing lawsuit during a pair of training camp press conferences

02:29this summer. For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis.