The NFL rejected arguments by former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores who want to push his racial discrimination lawsuit out of arbitration. Flores and his team had previously revealed his goal to avoid the arbitration, which was to publicly expose his accusations.
Flores intended to withdraw the lawsuit from arbitration following the NFL’s action earlier this offseason, when the league referred the case to league arbitration.
On Friday, the NFL submitted the final written brief to support the notion that Flores’ lawsuit should indeed be processed through arbitration. Moreover, the brief noted that the arbitration process would be decided by Commissioner Roger Goodell or his designated arbitrator.
Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic reported that the NFL’s 14-page brief addresses the argument that Goodell should be disqualified in part because the league office, which Goodell presides, initially stated that the lawsuit is “without merit.”
“While the NFL did state in a press release that it would ‘defend against [Plaintiffs’] claims, which are without merit,’ that statement represents the NFL’s position as a league,” the NFL stated.
“Any inference that the Commissioner himself has prejudged this lawsuit is unsupportable.”
However, according to Flores’ argument, the outcome wouldn’t come out fair
if the NFL pushes the whole thing to arbitration.
Goodell handling arbitration
As per Kaplan’s report, the NFL argued that Goodell’s recent sanctioning of the Dolphins for tampering as the evidence that showed him was not biased. The NFL said that Goodell could “rule against the interest”.
“Further, the Commissioner and his designees have a long history of rendering decisions at odds with the interests of the NFL’s member clubs, thus rebutting Plaintiffs’ accusations of bias,” the NFL said in the brief.
“In fact, here, the Commissioner recently imposed serious sanctions on one defendant club and its owner.”
According to Kaplan, the NFL also argued that it would be counterproductive for him to be biased against the plaintiffs in arbitration.
“The NFL has an overriding interest in combating racism, as it has repeatedly affirmed through its statements and actions,” the brief reads.
“If the Commissioner showed bias against Plaintiffs, it would undermine not only that interest but also the League’s interest in upholding its system of internal dispute resolution.”
Flores’ racial bias lawsuit
Flores brought up the racial discrimination lawsuit together with former Arizona Cardinals coach Steve Wilks and former Tennessee Titans coach Ray Horton.
They noted that racial discrimination within the NFL occurred in the hiring practices, especially for head coaches. With the situation, Flores pushed the league to keep the case in open court for case transparency.
Three other teams were shown as defendants for allegedly spurning Flores in head coaching searches, namely the New York Giants, Denver Broncos and Houston Texans. However, Flores argued that the arbitration should not affix to his claim for them as they were not Flores’ employers.
Flores asserted that the NFL has had a long history of racial discrimination, which included Flores’ time as a coach.
Furthermore, the league cited the league Constitution, which called for disagreements between two or more franchises, as well as between a coach and a franchise, to be resolved through arbitration.
As for Flores, his current status is senior defensive assistant coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.