Brian Flores Seeks Reconsideration in Lawsuit Against the NFL
Brian Flores, defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, and other plaintiffs’ lawyers have requested reconsideration of a court order that moved part of their lawsuit against the NFL and several teams to the league’s arbitration process. In a petition filed this week with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, Flores, along with coaches Steve Wilks and Ray Horton, argued that the 2023 order should be reconsidered based on an August ruling that found insurmountable flaws in the league’s arbitration process. Flores’ lawyers wrote in this week’s filing that that decision “constitutes definitive controlling law” on the previous order.Flores sued the NFL and several teams in January 2022, after being fired by the Miami Dolphins as head coach and being in the process of interviewing for other jobs. His original claim accused the league of being “rife with racism,” particularly in the hiring and promotion of Black coaches. NFL standard training contracts require disputes to be resolved in arbitration organized by the commissioner. Following the 2023 order, Commissioner Roger Goodell appointed Peter C. Harvey as arbitrator for matters that had been moved out of the lawsuit. The arbitration process has not progressed since an exchange of legal briefs in December 2024, Flores’ lawyers said in their filing this week.“Any attempt by the NFL to delay and further avoid the litigation of these claims should be respectfully rejected,” the lawyers wrote.
Flores spent the 2022 season as an assistant with the Pittsburgh Steelers before joining the Vikings in 2023. He interviewed for head coaching positions with the Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars, and New York Jets after the 2024 season, but did not advance beyond the first round of applicants for any of them. Some of Flores’ claims led the NFL to strip the Dolphins of their first-round pick in the 2023 draft, among other disciplinary measures, for violations of league policies related to game integrity. Following a six-month investigation, the league found that the Dolphins, primarily team owner Stephen Ross and Vice Chairman/Limited Partner Bruce Beal, violated the anti-tampering policy on three occasions from 2019 to 2022 in conversations with quarterback Tom Brady and the agent of then-New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton.“As such,” they wrote, “all arbitration has been at a complete standstill and an effective suspension.”
