Brian Flores’s lawyers have asked NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to not allow the lawsuit against the league, Broncos, Giants and Miami go into arbitration, according to The Athletic.
Within the letter the media outlet obtained, it said the Dolphins had requested the move for private arbitration.
“[W]e request that you reject Miami’s request to arbitrate its disputes with Mr. Flores because arbitration—which is conducted behind closed doors and outside the public eye—is contrary to all notions of transparency, accountability and fundamental fairness,” Flores attorney Douglas Wigdor wrote, per The Athletic. “If the National Football League is truly committed to racial justice and equality, it will not attempt to force Mr. Flores’ claims into arbitration.”
Although Goodell has previously spoken out about the lack of minority coaches in the NFL, the league has a history of moving lawsuits into arbitration, such as how they are trying to do with Jon Gruden. The NFL reportedly filed to dismiss his lawsuit in January, calling the case a “baseless attempt” to put the blame on the league for the public backlash after emails sent by Gruden containing misogynistic and anti-LGBTQ comments were leaked.
Flores is suing the league, three franchises and unidentified individuals, alleging discrimination and racism in hiring practices. Among the complaints listed in the filing, Flores said he took part in two “sham” interviews as teams attempted to comply with the Rooney Rule, citing the Giants and Broncos.
The proposed class action states: “The Rooney Rule is also not working because management is not doing the interviews in good-faith, and it therefore creates a stigma that interviews of Black candidates are only being done to comply with the Rooney Rule rather than in recognition of the talents that the Black candidates possess.”
Shortly after the news broke, the league released a statement asserting its commitment to diversity and called Flores’s claims “without merit.” However, Goodell reiterated recently that the allegations will be investigated to see if league policies were broken.
“We won’t tolerate racism,” Goodell said, per ESPN. “We won’t tolerate discrimination. If there are policies that we need to modify, we're going to do that. If we’ve seen evidence of discrimination, we will deal with that in a very serious way that will reflect the fact that we won't tolerate that.”
Flores also alleged that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him a $100,000 bonus for each loss during the 2019 season in attempt to secure the league’s worst record and the No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft. Flores says he didn’t comply with the request. The team owner, however, has previously called the allegations “false, malicious and defamatory.”
The former Miami coach was recently added to the Steelers coaching staff as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach.
