The U.S. Supreme Court won’t swoop in to save the NFL from facing Brian Flores’s racial discrimination lawsuit in federal court.
In January, the league petitioned the Supreme Court to hear its appeal of a ruling that allowed parts of Flores’s case to move forward in open court. On Tuesday, the nation’s high court declined to intervene in the matter.
“We respect the Supreme Court’s decision not to grant review,” an NFL spokesperson said in a statement to Front Office Sports. “Regardless of the forum, we are fully prepared to defend ourselves as this matter proceeds.”
The docket notes that Justice Brett Kavanaugh “would grant the petition,” which is notable as it shows his position was to hear the case—although it isn’t uncommon for any given justice to disagree with the overall decision. At least four of the nine justices must agree to grant a petition for the court to hear a case.
Flores, who is Black, sued the NFL, the Dolphins, Giants, and Broncos in 2022, after the Dolphins fired him as their head coach following the 2021 season. The suit alleges racial discrimination in the interview and hiring process for coaches. The now-Vikings defensive coordinator claims he was passed up for multiple head coaching jobs after he was fired, and he only received interviews so teams could comply with the NFL’s Rooney Rule. Former Titans defensive coordinator Ray Horton and ex-Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks later joined Flores as co-plaintiffs, and those two teams—along with the Texans—were added as defendants.
