Federal judge gives ruling in favor of former Dolphins HC Brian Flores regarding his lawsuit against NFL
After being fired from the Miami Dolphins, former head coach Brian Flores decided to sue the NFL. He alleged racism in coaching practices and had two other former coaches, Steve Wilks and Ray Horton, join in.
The NFL motioned to compel arbitration and Flores didn't like that. Now, a federal judge has now ruled in favor of the former Dolphins head coach in that regard.
NEW: Federal judge in Brian Flores lawsuit has temporarily paused the deadline for Flores to respond to the NFL's motion to compel arbitration until his motion for discovery from the NFL and Goodell over the fairness of the league arbitration process is decided by the court. https://t.co/EVICzliuHL
It's not a win for Flores overall just yet. There's still a long way to go and Flores and his fellow coaches face an uphill battle in winning this lawsuit. Still, it is a step in the right direction, as Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio wrote:
"It’s the right outcome. There’s no reason for Flores, Horton, and Wilks to submit their paperwork in opposition to the motion to compel arbitration until they know whether they’ll be able to explore potential issues with the fairness of the league’s inherently unfair process."
Judge delays deadline for Brian Flores to file paperwork in opposition to effort to compel arbitration, given that Flores's effort to get more information from the league on the issue is still pending. wp.me/pbBqYq-cjt4
Flores will be coaching linebackers and being a senior defensive assistant for the Pittsburgh Steelers while simultaneously trying to take the league to court.
Why Brian Flores decided to sue the NFL?
It's not often that an NFL coach gets fired from their position and decides to sue the league as a result. But that's pretty much what the former Dolphins coach did.
Brian Flores was the Dolphins' coach for three seasons, going 24-25 in those seasons. The Dolphins nearly made the playoffs in 2020 when their coach was being heralded as one of the best in the league.
The following season, Miami went 9-8 and also somewhat narrowly missed the playoffs, despite a seven-game winning streak during the season.
That wasn't good enough for Dolphins' top brass, who fired him in favor of Mike McDaniel. The lawsuit is much more complicated than a coach getting fired and not liking it.
The former Dolphins coach alleged that the owner of the Dolphins incentivized him to tank, which would have resulted in the losing record he may have been fired for.
After refusing to tamper with league free agents (a "prominent" quarterback), Flores said the Dolphins treated him poorly.
The Steelers assistant also said that he gave an interview to the New York Giants solely to satisfy the Rooney Rule. This rule requires teams to interview people from ethnic minorities for such positions.
Allegedly, Bill Belichick texted Flores, congratulating him for getting the job even though he didn't and wasn't a serious contender. The text appears to be a mistake, but it's all a part of the ongoing suit between the coach and his league.