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A federal court of appeal ruled on Thursday that the trial of the defensive coordinator of Minnesota Vikings, Brian Flores, against the NFL for racial discrimination can be judged.
The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals de l’US in Manhattan confirmed the previous decision of Judge Valerie Caproni that Flores can make complaints against the League and the Broncos of Denver, the New York Giants and the Texans of Houston.
The decision rejected the league’s attempt to force the flora to arbitration, which would have made Commissioner Roger Goodell was the referee.
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The defensive coordinator Brian Flores of the Vikings of Minnesota before a match against the Packers of Green Bay at the US Bank Stadium on December 31, 2023, in Minneapolis. (Stephen Maturen / Getty Images)
The NFL responded via the spokesperson Brian McCarthy.
“We are respectfully in disagreement with the panel decision and we will ask for a more in -depth exam,” said his press release.
Flores continued the NFL and several teams in 2022, saying that the league was “prey to its racism”, in particular in its hiring and its promotion of black coaches. Later, two other coaches joined the trial, which aims to continue as a collective recourse, although Caproni judged that their complaints could go to arbitration according to the language of the contracts they signed with teams.
Flores is the defensive coordinator of the Vikings of Minnesota after working before as a coach for the New England Patriots, from 2008 to 2018; Miami dolphins, from 2019 to 2021; And the Pittsburgh steelers in 2022. He joined the Vikings in 2023.
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Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores and the quarter-Arrière Tua Tagovailoa (Susan Stocker / South Florida / Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
In a decision drawn up by circuit judge Jose A. Cabranes, the Court of Appeal said that the rules of arbitration of the NFL forcing Flores to submit its complaints to arbitration before Goodell has the protection of the law on federal arbitration because it “provides arbitration in name only”.
The 2nd circuit said that the arbitration provision for the NFL constitution “does not contractually provide for an independent arbitral forum, no settlement of bilateral disputes and no procedure”.
“Instead, he offends the basic presumptions of our arbitration jurisprudence” by forcing the allegations to be decided by the “Executive Director” of the NFL, said the court of appeal.
Douglas H. Wigdor and David E. Gottlieb, lawyers representing Flores, said in a press release that the NFL relied on a biased and unfair arbitration process for too long.
“This decision sends a clear message: this practice must end,” they said.
The defensive coordinator Brian Flores of the Vikings of Minnesota before a match against the Packers of Green Bay at the US Bank Stadium on December 29, 2024, in Minneapolis. (Hemmelgarn Brace / Getty Images)
Caproni declared in a decision of March 2023 that the descriptions of the coaches of their experiences of racial discrimination in a league with a “long history of systematic discrimination against players, coaches and black managers – are incredibly disturbing”.
“Although the clear majority of professional football players is black, only a small percentage of coaches is black,” she said.
