The NFL took another swing at keeping Brian Flores out of court this week, and once again the league came up empty.
On Wednesday, Judge Valerie Caproni made it plain that Flores’ claims against the Dolphins, Giants, Broncos and Texans will move forward in court, not through the league’s preferred internal process. The NFL has been trying to force Flores’ racism and hiring process complaints into a system that would put commissioner Roger Goodell in the role of judge and jury, but the courts have not been buying it.
This latest setback was the league’s third attempt to overturn the ruling, after the Supreme Court declined to hear its first appeal. The NFL has kept pushing the same basic fight, and the Second Circuit Court has now had enough of the delay game.
Caproni’s 15-page ruling, as quoted by Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk, didn’t leave much room for interpretation. “This case continues to linger at the starting block. Or, to use a more fitting metaphor, this case continues to linger as the teams mill about in the players’ tunnels.”
She also took aim at the league’s legal strategy, writing, “Defendants can articulate no reason why these arguments were not raised in their response to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Reconsideration. . . . With sophisticated law firms, it is hard to fathom a plausible explanation.”
And she made clear she viewed the NFL’s approach as a stalling tactic. “Defendants opted for an iterative stream of arguments to buy themselves a few more months hanging out in the players’ tunnels.” She added, “At some point, you stop arguing to the court and start arguing with the court.”
The judge didn’t stop there. “Defendants’ seemingly-never-ending list of arguments why they should not have to litigate this case has run its course. Stepping back, while Defendants are free to spend endless attorneys’ fees to pursue the forum they think will be most advantageous to them, arguments about the superior efficiencies of arbitration ring hollow.”
She also noted the practical effect of the league’s repeated appeals: “Instead of proceeding, discovery and motion practice for these three teams have been further delayed so this Court can deal with these teams’ attempt to take yet another run at how to avoid district court litigation and will, presumably, be delayed further while they pursue yet another appeal.”
The case dates back to before Flores joined the Minnesota Vikings, shortly after he was fired by the Miami Dolphins. And even with this ruling, the NFL is unlikely to stop appealing. But for now, the league keeps losing the same fight, and Flores keeps moving closer to having his claims heard in court.
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