WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from the National Football League, allowing a racial discrimination lawsuit filed by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores to proceed in federal court. The decision clears the way for a full trial.
The justices turned away the NFL’s appeal without comment. Justice Brett Kavanaugh was the lone dissenter, stating he would have taken up the case. By declining to act, the court left in place a 2025 ruling by the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which had determined that the NFL cannot force Flores and his co-plaintiffs into private arbitration.
The arbitration dispute was central to the NFL’s legal strategy. The league argued the case should be resolved through its internal arbitration process, which would have placed Commissioner Roger Goodell in the role of decision-maker. The Second Circuit ruled that the provision in the NFL’s constitution granting Goodell unilateral arbitration authority was unenforceable. The case will now proceed in open court in New York.
Flores, 45, currently serves as defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings. He filed the lawsuit in February 2022 against the NFL, the Miami Dolphins, New York Giants, Denver Broncos, and Houston Texans, alleging the league was “rife with racism” in its hiring and promotion of Black coaches. Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks and longtime NFL assistant Ray Horton later joined the case as co-plaintiffs. Wilks’ claims are directed at the Cardinals, and Horton’s at the Tennessee Titans.
Flores was fired as head coach of the Miami Dolphins in January 2022 despite leading the team to back-to-back winning seasons — its first since 2003. The lawsuit alleges the Dolphins subsequently attempted to claw back money they had paid him in retaliation for filing the suit, and that the Houston Texans removed him from consideration for their head coaching vacancy for the same reason. The NFL and the teams named have denied all claims of racial discrimination.
Among the most specific allegations in the lawsuit is that Flores was asked to participate in “sham interviews” with the New York Giants and Denver Broncos — interviews conducted solely to satisfy the NFL’s Rooney Rule, a 2003 policy requiring that at least two external minority candidates be interviewed for head coaching and senior football operations positions, without any genuine intent to hire him. As evidence, Flores produced text messages from former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who accidentally congratulated Flores on landing the Giants head coaching job before the interview had taken place. Belichick had apparently meant to text Brian Daboll, who was ultimately hired.
The lawsuit seeks to compel the NFL to make structural changes to its hiring process, including requiring teams to document and explain hiring and termination decisions in writing, and creating financial incentives for franchises that hire Black coaches and general managers.
A federal judge in 2023 issued a split ruling — sending some claims, including those directly against the Dolphins, to arbitration, while allowing broader claims of systematic discrimination to proceed in court. The Second Circuit upheld that structure in 2025. The Supreme Court’s decision Tuesday leaves it intact.
The case now enters the discovery phase, during which Flores’ legal team can request internal communications, hiring records, and testimony from team owners and NFL executives. Flores’ lawyer, David Gottlieb, said the decision was welcomed by the plaintiffs.
The NFL has not publicly commented on the court’s ruling as of yet.
