A U.S. district court announced on Friday that Brian Flores, the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, can proceed with his ongoing discrimination case against the NFL in open court.
Last year, Flores and fellow coaches Steve Wilks and Ray Horton requested a review of a court order that had redirected portions of their lawsuit against the NFL and various teams to the league’s arbitration process.
They argued that the 2023 order warranted reconsideration following an August 2025 ruling that identified critical flaws in the league’s arbitration process.
The decision from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Friday allows all allegations to be addressed in a trial setting.
“The court’s ruling acknowledges that an arbitration environment where the defendant’s own CEO decides the outcome effectively deprives employees of their legal rights,” stated the coaches’ attorneys, Douglas H. Wigdor and David E. Gottlieb. “The NFL must now recognize this and finally offer a fair, impartial, and transparent platform for these matters to be resolved.”
Flores filed suit against the NFL and three franchises—the Denver Broncos, New York Giants, and Houston Texans—in January 2022, following his dismissal as head coach of the Miami Dolphins while he was interviewing for other positions. His original complaint alleged that the league is “rife with racism,” especially in its hiring and advancement of Black coaches.
Wilks’ allegations are against the Arizona Cardinals, while Horton’s pertain to the Tennessee Titans.
Information from ESPN’s Kevin Seifert was utilized in this report.
