Case Alleging Systemic Race Discrimination Against NFL Allowed to Proceed in Federal Court
The Flores complaint, as well as detailed reporting over the past few years, has shined an unflattering light on the less than stellar hiring and promotion of Black coaches by NFL teams.
April 24, 2023 at 11:37 AM
6 minute read
In a case that drew significant media attention because of the long simmering and ultimately explosive nature of the claims, last year this column reported on the racial discrimination class action lawsuit filed by Brian Flores, the former head coach of the NFL's Miami Dolphins against the Dolphins, the league and several other NFL teams (the Denver Broncos, New York Giants and Houston Texans). In short, Flores asserts he was discriminated against because of his race, that the Dolphins wrongly attempted to lose games to obtain a better draft position, and that other teams only interviewed him as a sham to get around the NFL's "Rooney Rule," which requires a minority candidate be interviewed before hiring certain senior positions. The Flores complaint, as well as detailed reporting over the past few years, has shined an unflattering light on the less than stellar hiring and promotion of Black coaches by NFL teams.
As we noted last year, the NFL promptly moved to dismiss the case and to refer the claims to private NFL arbitration (in which Commissioner Roger Goodell could be the decision-maker) because of language in Flores' employment contract with the Dolphins. While Flores initially was the only plaintiff, he was joined a couple of months later by two other Black coaches—Steve Wilks and Ray Horton.
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