Supreme Court Lets Coach's NFL Bias Case Proceed

NFL coach Brian Flores just scored a big win off the field. The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for a class-action lawsuit from Flores and other Black coaches to proceed in federal court, reports CNN. Flores, now the Minnesota Vikings' defensive coordinator and formerly head coach of the Miami Dolphins, sued the NFL in 2022, alleging systemic bias in how the league hires and promotes Black coaches. The NFL wanted Flores and two other coaches to resolve their claims through arbitration, but a federal appeals court rejected that plan in February, faulting the NFL's setup, which makes Commissioner Roger Goodell the default arbitrator.

The Supreme Court's refusal to intervene leaves the 2nd Circuit's decision in place. Flores filed suit after being fired by the Dolphins after two consecutive seasons with a winning record. Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks and former longtime NFL assistant coach Ray Horton later joined Flores as plaintiffs, notes Reuters. They say they regularly sat for "sham interviews" by teams with no intention of hiring them. The teams, they allege, were merely going through the motions to obey an NFL policy known as the Rooney Rule requiring minority interviews.

The federal court found that the NFL's proposed solution to the lawsuit amounted to "arbitration in name only" because of Goodell's involvement. Flores' lawyers argued employers can't require workers to bring discrimination claims before the employer's own chief executive. The NFL countered that the ruling hands judges too much power to toss arbitration agreements they view as unfair.