In February, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL, alleging he was the victim of racial discrimination. On Thursday, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport issued an update on this situation.
A United States District Court judge denied a request from Flores’ team to “take discovery on the issue of arbitration before submitting the opposition brief to the NFL’s motion to compel arbitration.”
Flores’ lawyers released a statement on this decision.
“We are confident that we will defeat the efforts of the NFL to move this matter into a private and confidential arbitration behind closed doors,” the statement read. “It is obvious that the NFL is trying to hide behind the arbitration process and avoid public scrutiny of the racial discrimination and retaliation claims we have brought. If they are confident in their defenses, they should let the process play out in court so the general public can see.”
Most fans were confused by the terminology used by Rapoport and Flores’ legal team.
Earlier this week, the Dolphins were disciplined for violating the integrity of the game. However, the league claims owner Stephen Ross didn’t instruct Flores to intentionally lose games in 2019.
“The Dolphins did not intentionally lose games during the 2019 season,” the NFL said. “Nor did anyone at the club, including Mr. Ross, instruct Coach Flores to do so.”
It’ll be interesting to see how this legal situation plays out.