On Tuesday, the NFL made the request that we knew was coming from when we first reported on it back in April.
The league, along with the Texans, Dolphins, Giants, Broncos, Cardinals and Titans, have officially asked a federal court to send Brian Flores’ racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL to arbitration. They also requested that Steve Wilks and Ray Horton, the two co-plaintiffs who joined Flores’ blistering lawsuit, split their cases and file separate arbitration cases.
The move by the NFL to push this behind closed doors isn’t surprising.
Not only did the NFL show us their intentions back in April, but through arbitration, transparency and disclosure are severely dampened.
And the more the NFL can hide its dirty secrets behind closed doors, the better it is for the league.
However, Flores and his legal team have tried to keep the lawsuit out of arbitration to force more disclosure.
“With forced arbitration, my case will be litigated behind closed doors, confidentially and without transparency, essentially done in secrecy,” said Flores in March. “With forced arbitration, there won’t be a jury of my peers who will hear my claims, which is one of the most important and fundamental rights we have in this country.”
This all started back in January when the Dolphins shockingly fired Flores after back-to-back winning seasons, something no Miami coach had done since Dave Wannstedt (2000 – 2003).
Flores changed the culture and not only helped the team win but also acquire draft capital.
But instead of reaping the benefits this upcoming season, he was fired and new coach Mike McDaniel gets to coach the team Flores built and newly acquired star receiver, Tyreek Hill.
So on February 1st, 2022, the first day of Black History Month, Flores filed his racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL, the Dolphins, Giants and Broncos, challenging their hiring practices.
Brian Flores’ claim was bolstered by the infamous text he got from Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who mistakenly congratulated Flores, instead of Brian Daboll, on getting the head coaching job with the Giants.
Flores was deemed the hot coaching candidate after being fired.
Yet six of the seven NFL head coaching vacancies were filled by white candidates (the Texans ultimately hired Lovie Smith) and Flores remained unemployed. It’s why he called the process a “sham” and stated in his lawsuit, “the NFL is racially segregated and is managed much like a plantation.”
In March, Flores was hired by Mike Tomlin and the Steelers.
A month after that, Wilks and Horton added their names to Flores’ federal lawsuit.
Now, four months after the lawsuit was originally filed, the NFL and six teams seek to have the lawsuit, and all of the sensitive and embarrassing material that could be disclosed, pushed behind closed doors.
We’ll continue to keep you updated on this situation.
