Supreme Court Issues Ruling On NFL's Appeal Of Brian Flores Case

Brian Flores' racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL will go to trial after the Supreme Court declined to intervene.

The Supreme Court rejected the NFL's appeal to have the case handled by a closed-door arbitration panel overseen by the league. It will instead go to a trial in open court, barring a settlement.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh would have heard the case, with Commissioner Roger Goodell serving as the final decision-maker, if the Supreme Court allowed it to proceed through arbitration.

Attorneys representing the plaintiffs, David Gottlieb and Douglas Wigdor, responded to Tuesday's ruling.

"The NFL must now accept that its commissioner cannot be the arbitrator over discrimination claims against the league and its teams," Gottlieb and Wigdor said, per Lindsay Whitehurst of the Associated Press. "We look forward to litigating these claims in court."

More on Flores lawsuit

Flores, who is Black, claimed the NFL's hiring practices were "rife with racism" when he sued the league and four teams.

The Miami Dolphins fired Flores after back-to-back seasons with a winning record before he filed the lawsuit. Flores claimed that owner Stephen Ross offered to pay him $100,000 per loss during the 2019 season in an effort to secure a higher draft pick.

Flores accused the Denver Broncos and New York Giants of conducting phony interviews with him to satisfy the Rooney Rule, which requires NFL teams to hire diverse candidates for head coaching and other high-profile positions. He added the Houston Texans as a defendant, alleging that they wouldn't hire him because of the lawsuit.

Flores has spent the last three seasons as a defensive coordinator with the Minnesota Vikings, who allowed the league's third-fewest yards in 2025.

Steve Wilks later joined the lawsuit, claiming the Arizona Cardinals didn't give him a chance to succeed as their head coach in 2022. Former defensive coordinator Ray Horton also joined the case, accusing the Tennessee Titans of giving him a "sham interview" for their head coaching vacancy in 2016.

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This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 10:39 AM.