Supreme Court rejects NFL's bid to step into coach's racial discrimination suit

Politics Supreme Court rejects NFL's bid to step into coach Brian Flores' racial discrimination suit By Melissa Quinn Melissa Quinn Senior Reporter, Politics Melissa Quinn is a senior reporter for CBSNews.com, where she covers U.S. politics, with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts. Read Full Bio Melissa Quinn May 26, 2026 / 9:53 AM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Washington — The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned away an appeal by the NFL stemming from coach Brian Flores' landmark racial discrimination lawsuit, allowing his case to proceed in federal court instead of closed-door arbitration overseen by the league.The high court declined to review a lower court decision that allowed Flores' case to move forward in open court instead of arbitration, in which Commissioner Roger Goodell would serve as the decisionmaker. Justice Brett Kavanaugh said he would have heard the case.The yearslong legal battle began in early 2022, when Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL and three teams, the Miami Dolphins, New York Giants and Denver Broncos, alleging systemic racial discrimination. He was joined in the suit by two other coaches, Steve Wilks, who was head coach of the Arizona Cardinals for a single season, and Ray Horton, former defensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans.Flores alleged that the league had discriminated against him and other Black coaches based on their race and denied them coaching and general manager positions.Flores sued the NFL after he was fired from his job as head coach of the Dolphins after leading the team to a 24-25 record over three years. He had interviewed for coaching jobs with the Giants and Broncos, but the two teams declined to hire him. Flores is now defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings.In response to the lawsuit, the NFL and teams sought to compel arbitration based on the coaches' employment contracts and a provision of the NFL Constitution that gives the NFL commissioner, Goodell, authority to ar...