The Supreme Court rejected on Tuesday the NFL’s bid for a lawsuit over alleged racial discrimination to be moved out of court and into arbitration proceedings controlled by the league.
The development comes after several black NFL coaches, led by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, brought a lawsuit against the league and three other defendants — the Denver Broncos, the Houston Texans, and the New York Giants — alleging they discriminated against them because of their race. In response, the NFL appealed to the Supreme Court, asking the court to allow the league to resolve concerns out of federal court, through a process overseen by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
But in a brief order, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by the league that the lawsuit be resolved by arbitration, not a judge and jury in open court. Justice Brett Kavanaugh dissented from the decision.
“We respect the Supreme Court’s decision not to grant review. Regardless of the forum, we are fully prepared to defend ourselves as this matter proceeds,” chief NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told the Hill.
The Supreme Court’s order backs up a previous ruling from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which allowed the lawsuit to go to trial after concluding that a provision in the NFL constitution granting Goodell unilateral authority to arbitrate was “plainly unenforceable” because it would deny Flores arbitration “in any meaningful sense of the word.”
“An employer – whether a professional sports league, restaurant, retail store or otherwise – cannot force employees to arbitrate statutory employment discrimination claims before the employer’s own chief executive,” Flores’s attorneys told the Supreme Court.
Flores, former Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks, and former longtime NFL assistant coach Ray Horton are the plaintiffs suing the NFL over allegations that the league racially discriminated against them. Among Flores’s allegations are claims that the Miami Dolphins fired him as head coach in 2022 because he is black, and that his race played a role in decisions by the New York Giants and the Denver Broncos not to hire him.
The NFL has denied the claims, as it faces fire on both sides of the racial discrimination debate.
On the other end of the spectrum, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is probing concerns that the league has systematically discriminated against white men through diversity, equity, and inclusion-styled programming designed to support minority groups and women. Uthmeier has particularly targeted the Rooney Rule, which mandates teams interview black candidates for senior roles, as well as previous versions of its Accelerator Program.
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“I think we have been very clear about our programs, and we obviously evaluate them all the time, not just for how they get better but also to make sure that they’re consistent with the law,” Goodell said last week.
“We’re engaging with the Florida attorney general and will continue to,” the NFL commissioner continued. “We’ll share everything we’re doing with them. We think it’s certainly within the law, but also something very positive.”