Weekly Combine Newsletter: Two more coaches join Brian Flores race claim
The race-based class action complaint filed by former NFL head coach Brian Flores has taken a step forward with two more black coaches joining the action before the United States District Court- Southern District of New York.
The two men, Steve Wilks, who coached the Arizona Cardinals for only one season in 2018, and Ray Horton, a veteran assistant coach, were added to the amended complaint on Thursday. Flores, the former Miami Dolphins head coach, originally lodged the complaint.
In the high-profile federal civil rights lawsuit, Flores accuses the NFL of "a tortured and unacceptable history with race relations that requires immediate focus ..." and detailed his history of what he says was discrimination in hiring practices because of his race.
Both Wilks and Horton also allege they were not given any chance to succeed or be promoted in their respective coaching positions. Flores also amended his original complaint to include developments since it was filed. These include the Houston Texans removing him from consideration for their head coach search and that the Dolphins refused to remunerate him further under his contract.
Since the complaint, the Texans hired Lovie Smith, who is black, as head coach. Whilst Flores won a job as a defensive coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
As previously reported in February, Michael McCann, a legal professor and Director of the Sports and Entertainment Institute of the University of New Hampshire, said during a webinar conducted by Sportico that this lawsuit was the most significant challenge currently facing the NFL. Professor McCann also added a class action of this nature would usually need about "20 or 25 people". Therefore, whilst the additions of Wilks and Horton is a progression for the action, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.
It has also been suggested that the lawsuit faces difficulties because- as it requires Court certification- the NFL is likely to argue it should be tossed, relying on arguments they have used in the past, such as employees are bound to arbitrate grievances by NFL Rules and employment agreements.
Flores is among those to have spoken out about forced arbitration agreements and has supported recent legislative reforms against them progressing through the U.S. Congress.
The NFL is also likely to argue each coach's circumstances are unique and they were not discriminated against as part of a blanket policy.
Mr Flores, and other claimants, are being represented by high-profile New York employment firm Wigdor LLP.
The matter is set for a pre-trial conference on 29 April.
Related Story
Sports Law Combine
Sports Law Combine
Sports Law Combine now provides our weekly combine newsletter by email to all members. To unlock access to all our articles, click here for details about our individual or business subscriptions.
If you missed our latest articles, here are Sports Law Combine's published articles from the past seven days.
Sports Law Combine
Sports Law Combine
Sports Law Combine
Sports Law Combine
© Copyright 2022 Sports Law Combine
