Appeals Court Rejects NFL Bid To Force Brian Flores’ Discrimination Case Into Arbitration

The National Football League (NFL) has failed in its latest attempt to steer Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ discrimination lawsuit into private arbitration.

In an Oct. 6 order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied the league’s petition for a panel rehearing or a rehearing en banc, clearing the way for the case—now in its third year—to proceed in federal court.

“The panel… has considered the request for panel rehearing, and the active members of the Court have considered the request for rehearing en banc… the petition is denied,” the court wrote.

Flores, who coached the Miami Dolphins from 2019 to 2021, sued the NFL in 2022, alleging systemic racial discrimination across the league. His complaint also names the Dolphins, Denver Broncos and New York Giants, citing his firing in Miami and what he describes as sham interview processes in Denver and New York.

The NFL sought to compel arbitration before Commissioner Roger Goodell, a move Flores’ legal team opposed in favor of a neutral forum. In March 2023, U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni sided with Flores, criticizing the league’s record on diversity in coaching and management ranks and rejecting the NFL’s push for commissioner-run arbitration.

The league appealed, but a Second Circuit panel upheld Caproni’s decision, finding the NFL’s constitution did not provide for an independent arbitral forum or a bilateral dispute process. With the court’s latest denial of rehearing, that ruling stands.

No trial date has been set, but the decision keeps Flores’ claims—centered on hiring practices and alleged diversion of minority candidates into non-serious interviews—on a path toward public adjudication rather than closed-door proceedings.