NFL Files #Scotus Appeal to Overturn Brian Flores' Win that Struck the League's Arbitration Process
The National Football League has appealed a Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that struck down its employment arbitration program to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The petition for certiorari, dated Jan. 2 but docketed yesterday and posted this morning by the nation’s top Court, asks for reversal of a decision in favor of Minnesota Vikings’ defensive coordinator Brian Flores, sending his and two other NFL coaching staffers’ employment discrimination claims to court, rather than arbitration.
The issue the NFL presents to the Court in its 25-page petition is
Whether an arbitration agreement governing disputes in a professional sports league is categorically unenforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act because it designates the league commissioner as the default arbitrator and permits the commissioner to develop arbitral procedures.
The NFL employment arbitration processes were eviscerated in a stinging unanimous opinion last summer authored by Second Circuit Judge José A. Cabranes. The employment agreements included both club-specific arbitration agreements and processes incorporated by reference to the NFL Constitution, which designates the NFL commissioner as the deciding authority. They grant, as the opinion notes, “the unilateral substantive and procedural discretion of the NFL Commissioner—the principal executive of one of Flores’s adverse parties,” as the arbitrating authority.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had designated an outside arbitrator during the course of the now four-year-old controversy, and some cases survived Flores’ arbitration challenge and were sent to ADR. Flores and his fellow plaintiffs’ original claims were against the New York Giants, the Denver Broncos, and the Houston Texans, as well as against the NFL.
But others were sent back to court. Cabranes and the Second Circuit traced the history of the Federal Arbitration Act and noted historical skepticism about in-house arbitration programs. “Simply labeling something as ‘arbitration’ does not automatically bring it within the ambit of the FAA’s protection,” he wrote (internal citations omitted).
Flores’ discrimination claims—apparently the only ones still remaining—arose in the course of interviews for head coaching jobs where he did not get offers amidst allegations that the positions had been filled, and the interviews he received were window dressing.
Flores' contract with Minnesota has expired with the end of the current regular season this week. He has been the subject of speculation as a candidate for head coach spots, again, in the wake of the total of seven vacancies created by head coach firings Monday, as well as earlier in the season.
The NFL and the teams have had heavy hitters representing them through their appeals. Members of the Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison team are led by veteran Supreme Court advocate Kannon Shanmugam, and include former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and firm chairman Brad Karp.
You can read the Flores back story at Stephanie Argueta, “Flores Can Go to Court as Second Circuit Slams the NFL’s Arbitration Scheme,” CPR Speaks (Nov. 14, 2025) (available here). It links to Cabranes’ Second Circuit opinion, which can be accessed directly here.
The Supreme Court docket page for New York Giants, et al. v. Flores, No. 25-790, can be found here.
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