Score another legal victory for Brian Flores.
A federal judge in the Southern District of New York ruled that Flores’ discrimination lawsuit against the NFL will proceed through the U.S. public legal system, not the league’s private arbitration process, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Flores, later joined by Steve Wilks and Ray Horton, filed the lawsuit in 2022 alleging racial hiring practices within the NFL with claims against the league itself and multiple specific teams.
The NFL has long been trying to keep Flores’ suit out of open court and instead under the control of Peter Harvey, the arbitrator appointed by commissioner Roger Goodell. Several court rulings have gone against those efforts, with multiple judges pointing out the inherent issues with Harvey arbitrating the case while being employed by one of the parties.
Flores’ attorneys, Douglas Wigdor and David Gottlieb issued a statement on the decision (via ESPN): “The court’s decision recognizes that an arbitration forum in which the defendant’s own chief executive gets to decide the case would strip employees of their rights under the law. It is long overdue for the NFL to recognize this and finally provide a fair, neutral and transparent forum for these issues to be addressed.”
The next step in the legal process is a pretrial hearing, set for April 3. The NFL is also waiting to see if the Supreme Court will accept their petition to review lower court decisions regarding this issue of arbitration.
Flores’ lawsuit was already a landmark one for its attempt to confront suspect hiring practices that have persisted even after the institution and expansion of the Rooney Rule. But now, perhaps unintentionally so, it may have become much bigger. The NFL has long used its own private arbitration process that unsurprisingly tends to favor the league in final decisions. Flores’ case threatens the validity and enforceability of that process. The court decisions that have already been made support the contention that the league should not be able to influence the arbitration of cases in which it has a vested interest. A Supreme Court ruling could establish firmer, long-term legal precedent, though they would have to accept the case for review, which is not a certainty.
Arbitration could also become a major issue in the next CBA negotiations between the NFL and the NFLPA. The union may be empowered by these rulings and attempt to restrict or eliminate the arbitration process, at least as they relate to players. NFL coaches do not currently have a union and would have to individually negotiate mandatory arbitration out of their contracts unless such language becomes legally prohibited.
Flores was not able to land a head coaching gig this offseason despite three excellent seasons in Minnesota. And despite receiving a mammoth $6MM salary on his new deal with the Vikings, he still wants to get another chance to be a head coach, per Essentially Sports’ Tony Pauline. Team owners may be cautious about hiring a coach with an open lawsuit against the league and multiple specific teams. Flores may have to wait until the legal process plays out, which could take years. But continued success with the Vikings defense could become too hard to ignore.
The NFL is so screwed unless they can effectively bribe the right wing nuts on SC.
I’m black. Why can’t I get hired in the NFL and get my 6 mil contract? Nobody even hired me for an assistant coach this season. I would have taken 2 mil.
How is the NFL screwed? People should neither get jobs nor lose them based on their skin color.
Right. They should get them based on how well connected their fathers are.
Who said that? People—in any profession—should get hired or fired based on their own merit. Does anyone disagree?
Sure. But cronyism and nepotism hires happen all the time.
Not disagreeing that it does. It’s wrong. Same as hiring/firing someone based on skin color. Does that wrong—hiring someone based on who they know/related to—make the wrong of hiring someone due to their skin color better? Wrong is wrong.
But one of those things is actually happening a lot.
Doesn’t change the content of the argument…Can you answer these two questions directly and without other added info?
Do you believe that hiring/firing someone because who they know or is related to is wrong?
Do you believe hiring/firing someone because of their skin color is wrong?
No one is taking the other side of these questions.
What “other side”? Why can’t you answer a simple question?
You’ve asked and answered your own questions.
I’m asking YOU to answer the questions. Unless you can’t or won’t for some reason.
I’ve clearly responded to your obvious questions. Of course no one should be hired for reasons beyond merit. But cronyism and nepotism get people in the door and up the ladder over and over again while candidates from underrepresented backgrounds are more likely to be passed over and/or subjected to sham interviews.
No, you have not—at least not until now. Until this point all you’ve said is…But but but…what about this problem? That’s typical when there’s no merit to your argument.
Brian Flores has coached in the NFL for a while. He’s been a head coach, a coordinator, etc. He’s done well. So have many others who both still have their jobs or have been terminated, just like Flores. Is there any proof—actual proof, not just conjecture—that the reason Flores does not have a head coaching job is 100% due to the color of his skin? Perhaps that is the reason, and perhaps it is someone else entirely.
No private company—which 31 or 32 NFL teams are—are required to hire or keep employed someone they do not want working for them, regardless of their skin color or accomplishments. Successful people are terminated all the time in all professions for a variety of reasons. And successful, qualified people are passed over for positions in the same way. Team owners can interview, hire, and fire employees for any number of reasons. Skin color—nor cronyism/nepotism—should EVER be a factor. And you (nor Brian Flores) have any proof that it is.
But Nathaniel Hackett keeps getting jobs.
There we go again…But but but…
Nothing else.
This is a nothing burger case. It will get settled eventually with nothing coming out.
We talk about disparity in black coaches all the time but not the disparity of how many assistant coaches there are.
The Rooney rule is ridiculous and embarrasses black candidates.
Giving teams draft picks for having black coaches is absolutely deranged.
Imagine requiring teams to try out a white CB before signing a black one. Or giving draft picks for teams who roster white DBs. That sounds ridiculous because it is.
Do you see a lot of white cornerbacks getting passed over for jobs they’ve earned as much or more than the black corners getting them?
In a passing league, they don’t care about their skin color, just their forty times.
What does “earned” mean?
Weren’t you the guy just talking about merit?
Yes, I am, so I’m curious as to what you mean by “earned”?
There are plenty of ways to measure cornerbacks from athleticism to size to performance. Coaches have resumes, experience, accomplishments, etc.
So what does it mean to earn a head coaching job? How does one “earn” that?
Taking a team from scorched earth rebuild to two straight winning seasons is a pretty damn good qualification. Being one of the most effective Playcallers in the league is too. So is successfully holding a position that got your two predecessors head coaching jobs.
Have those qualifications ever happened and NOT gotten someone a head coaching job? Or has an effective & successful head coach ever been terminated?
Flores was fired after two straight winning seasons after a scorched earth rebuild. Bieniemy had the same job as Pederson and Nagy.
Doug Pederson was also fired two years after winning the Super Bowl. Imagine that… a successful, accomplishment, Super Bowl winning coach fired. Was it because of his skin color?
Matt Nagy got a head coaching job, wasn’t all that successful—nor terrible—and lost it, and hasn’t gotten another one.
Eric Bieniemy has not gotten a head coaching job for a lot of reasons. Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t he have some issues in his past that would not look good for someone who becomes the face of an organization? Or is it just his skin color.
I never said it was just his skin color. But the goalposts sure seem to move. Hell, the highest paid coach in the NFL was suspended for a whole year from his last job for a scandal.
Please compare the resumes of Sean Payton & Brian Flores. If Payton had Flores’ accomplishments and that scandal happened, he’d never set foot in an NFL building again.
However, I’m tired of talking in circles and arguing with someone who sees nothing but skin color. Racism and prejudice don’t look good, in any form. Have a nice day.
I wouldn’t hire him. As soon as something goes wrong or you want to terminate him, he’s already proven he will throw out the race card and sue. Not worth the headache. Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to simply avoid it in the first place.
This is excellent news. The NFL and Goodell have always gotten their way in legal cases.