Well, maybe there won’t be any appeals of Wednesday’s mixed-bag ruling in the Brian Flores litigation.
In a statement provided earlier this evening to PFT, the NFL seems to indicate that it will proceed to arbitration with the claims that will be arbitrated, and that it will proceed to litigation with the claims that will be litigated.
“Diversity and inclusion throughout the NFL make us a better organization,” Chief NFL Spokesman Brian McCarthy said. “We recognize there is more work to be done and we are deeply committed to doing it. That said, we are pleased with the court’s decision, which correctly holds that the vast majority of claims in this case are properly arbitrable by the Commissioner under binding agreements signed by each plaintiff. We intend to move forward promptly with arbitrations as directed by the court and will seek to dismiss the remaining claims.”
This means that, instead of appealing the decision to submit the other claims to the normal litigation channels, the league will file a motion to dismiss the claims made by Flores against the Broncos, Giants, and Texans. If successful, those claims end. If not, those claims head toward trial.
It also appears that Flores, Steve Wilks, and Ray Horton will not be appealing the ruling regarding claims that must be submitted to arbitration.
“We are pleased that Coach Flores’ class claims of systematic discrimination against the NFL and several teams will proceed in court and ultimately before a jury of his peers,” attorney Doug Wigdor said in a statement. “We are disappointed the court compelled arbitration of any claims before Mr. Goodell as he is obviously biased and unqualified to rule on these matters. We expect him to delegate those matters to a truly neutral arbitrator as a matter of fundamental fairness. We look forward to pursuing all these claims to trial in their various forums.”
Don’t expect trials to happen any time soon. There will be various phases and stages to the litigation, and arbitration, before final rulings are issued.