Judge won't budge on allowing Brian Flores suit to proceed to trial - ESPN

NEW YORK — A federal judge said Tuesday that she's not changing her decision to let NFL coach Brian Flores put the league and three of its teams on trial over his claims that he and other Black coaches face discrimination.

Judge Valerie Caproni's written ruling in Manhattan federal court came after both sides in the case asked her to reconsider her March decision.

The judge ruled then that claims by two coaches who joined the Flores lawsuit after it was filed early last year must proceed to arbitration, where NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will presumably serve as arbitrator.

She said Flores can proceed to trial with his claims against the league and three teams: the Denver Broncos, the New York Giants and the Houston Texans. The Judge ruled in March that Flores must pursue his claims against the Miami Dolphins through arbitration.

In February 2022, Flores sued the league and several teams, saying the league was «rife with racism,» particularly in its hiring and promotion of Black coaches.

When she ruled in March, Caproni wrote that descriptions by the coaches of their experiences of racial discrimination in a league with a «long history of systematic discrimination toward Black players, coaches, and managers — are incredibly troubling.»

«Although the clear majority of professional football players are Black, only a tiny percentage of coaches are Black,» she said.

She said it was «difficult to understand» how there was only one Black head coach at the time Flores filed his lawsuit in a league of 32 teams with Black players making up about 70% of the rosters.

In her ruling Tuesday, Caproni rejected an effort by the NFL to argue that a contract Flores signed last year with the Pittsburgh Steelers prevented him from taking