It will take even longer to get to the meat of the Brian Flores case. But that’s good news, potentially, for the former Dolphins coach and his co-plaintiffs.
Via Daniel Wallach, Judge Valerie Caproni issued an order on Monday delaying the upcoming July 22 deadline for Flores, Ray Horton, and Steve Wilks to respond to the NFL’s formal effort to force the case to arbitration in the NFL’s secret, rigged kangaroo court. The delay comes from the pending effort by Flores et al. to get information from the league regarding the arbitration process, including sworn testimony of Commissioner Roger Goodell and information regarding his compensation, since he serves as the decision-maker for claims brought against those who employ and pay him.
It’s the right outcome. There’s no reason for Flores, Horton, and Wilks to submit their paperwork in opposition to the motion to compel arbitration until they know whether they’ll be able to explore potential issues with the fairness of the league’s inherently unfair process.
And of course it’s unfair. How can Goodell be expected to dispense justice in cases involving teams and current or former employees of teams when he’s paid millions per year by the owners of those teams? On average, each team has paid him roughly $2 million per year for each of the past two years.
He can’t be expected to be fair. And the only fair outcome would be to allow a truly independent court to consider the claims against the league and its teams.
