Brian Flores will amend lawsuit to include retaliation claim over arbitration issue
NBC Sports • • sports
Key Points:
- Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores is amending his lawsuit against the NFL and multiple teams to include a retaliation claim, alleging his opposition to the league's arbitration enforcement has blocked his head-coaching opportunities.
- Flores challenges the NFL's practice of requiring coaches to resolve disputes through league-controlled arbitration, a system recently struck down by a federal appeals court.
- Despite being a successful defensive coordinator, Flores has not secured a second head-coaching job since his 2021 firing by the Dolphins, with his lawsuit also targeting the Texans for alleged retaliation.
- Flores has requested hiring practice information from all 32 NFL teams as part of the ongoing discovery process in his lawsuit, which was filed in early 2022 and has faced delays over jurisdictional issues.
- Proving retaliation will be difficult, as it requires demonstrating that the official reasons for not hiring Flores are pretexts for discrimination, but Flores continues to pursue the case aggressively despite potential career risks.