The NFL is currently reeling in its lively, high-profile legal battles. In a post on X earlier this month, Wigdor LLP – one among the firms representing Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores in his class-action suit against the league – said the NFL’s petition for a rehearing of a recent Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Flores’ favor was denied.
In August, a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit affirmed a lower court holding that Flores’ claims against the league and three teams – the Broncos, Giants, and Texans – were allowed to proceed to court slightly than remain in arbitration. The appellate court reasoned that Flores never signed contracts containing mandatory arbitration language with those clubs (the premise for his claims against those three outfits is that they allegedly conducted sham head coaching interviews to comply with the Rooney Rule). As such, the Defendants couldn’t force those particular claims to arbitration.
The NFL subsequently sought a rehearing before the Second Circuit’s full 13-judge panel, but as noted by Wigdor LLP, that attempt was unsuccessful. It’s unclear whether the league will appeal to america Supreme Court, but even when it does, the percentages of any party securing a review before the best court within the nation are quite slim.
So for now, Flores – whose suit includes as co-Plaintiffs current Jets defensive coordinator Steve Wilks and former NFL staffer Ray Horton, who worked as a DC for 3 different clubs – could have the chance to air a portion of his claims within the forum of an open court as a substitute of the sheltered, league-friendly arbitration setting. The motion he recently filed in a renewed effort to remove his and his co-Plaintiffs’ claims against the Dolphins, Cardinals, and Titans from arbitration to open court continues to be pending.
This decision comes on the heels of one other failed arbitration-related attempt on the league’s part. The Nevada Supreme Court recently held that former Bucs and Raiders head coach Jon Gruden’s suit against the NFL could proceed to open court, and the league’s efforts to have a rehearing of that ruling was also denied.
Given these recent developments, there soon could also be some substantive movement in each matters. Gruden’s suit was filed in November 2021, and Flores filed his motion just a number of months later, in February 2022. As of yet, nonetheless, neither proceeding has moved to a trial on the merits of the disputes.