NFL Cannot Force Black Coach’s Racial Claims Into Arbitration, Says Appeals Court

The National Football League cannot force Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ racial bias claims into an arbitration controlled by the league, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday.

In a 3-0 decision, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said a provision in the NFL constitution granting Commissioner Roger Goodell unilateral authority to arbitrate was “plainly unenforceable” because it would deny Flores arbitration “in any meaningful sense of the word.”

NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said: “We respectfully disagree with the panel’s ruling, and will be seeking further review.”

Flores, 44, who is Black, sued the NFL in February 2022, saying he was subjected to “sham” interviews for head coaching positions so teams could comply with diversity recruiting requirements under the league’s Rooney Rule.

The proposed class action alleged systemic discrimination against Black candidates for top coaching and management jobs.

Other defendants included the New York Giants and Houston Texans, which interviewed Flores soon after he was fired as Miami Dolphins head coach in January 2022, and the Denver Broncos, which interviewed him before he joined Miami in 2019.

U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan ruled in March 2023 that some of Flores’ claims belonged in federal court, and the appeals court agreed.

An arbitration agreement that “compels one party to submit its disputes to the substantive and procedural authority of the principal executive officer of one of their adverse parties, is an agreement for arbitration in name only,” Circuit Judge Jose Cabranes wrote.

Flores’ lawyers welcomed the decision.

“For too long, the NFL has relied on a fundamentally biased and unfair arbitration process,” the lawyers Douglas Wigdor, David Gottlieb and John Elefterakis said in a joint statement. “This ruling sends a clear message: that practice must end.”

Caproni also granted motions to compel arbitration of Flores’ claims against the Dolphins, and two other coaches’ claims against the Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans.

She cited club-specific terms in the coaches’ employment contracts. Those rulings were not part of Flores’ appeal.

The NFL has denied claims of racial discrimination.

In February, Goodell affirmed the league’s commitment to diversity even as U.S. President Donald Trump called for the dismantling of diversity initiatives nationwide.

The case is Flores v. New York Football Giants Inc et al, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 23-1185.