It’s been a rough week in court for the NFL.
Three days after the Nevada Supreme Court ruled against the effort to force Jon Gruden’s claims against the league and Commissioner Roger Goodell into arbitration, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that certain claims made by former Dolphins coach (and current Vikings defensive coordinator) Brian Flores should not be sent to arbitration.
In a 29-page ruling, the three-judge panel found that claims made by Flores against the Giants, Broncos, Texans, and the NFL should proceed in court.
“The significance of the Second Circuit’s decision cannot be overstated,” the lawyers for Flores (Douglas H. Wigdor, David E. Gottlieb, and John Elefterakis) said in a statement issued to PFT. “For too long, the NFL has relied on a fundamentally biased and unfair arbitration process — even in cases involving serious claims of discrimination. This ruling sends a clear message: that practice must end. This is a victory not only for NFL employees, but for workers across the country — and for anyone who believes in transparency, accountability and justice.”
The NFL issued a much shorter statement: “We respectfully disagree with the panel’s ruling, and will be seeking further review.”
We’ll have more on this one later. For now, the point is that Flores and Gruden have secured important wins when it comes to the league’s knee-jerk habit of demanding to make the Commissioner responsible for resolving any and all legal claims made against the NFL, its teams, and/or the Commissioner himself.
Anyone who believes in basic fairness should be opposed to that. And, as I’ve said before (and surely will say again), if the league was committed to true and objective fairness, it shouldn’t insist on the Commissioner being responsible for resolving disputes involving the league, its teams, and/or the Commissioner himself.
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