A U.S. district court judge issued a ruling on Friday in favor of Brian Flores, Steve Wilks, and Ray Horton, which allows their racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL to proceed in court after an initial motion to move some proceedings to arbitration was granted in 2023.

District Judge Valerie Caproni in the Southern District of New York stated in her ruling that “the NFL’s unilateral control over the dispute resolution process is the fatal flaw” in the NFL’s argument that the matter remains under arbitration.

Given that Flores, Wilks, and Horton are suing for racial discrimination and retaliation, the judge concluded that the NFL’s arbitration process, overseen by Commissioner Roger Goodell, “does not provide a forum where Plaintiffs can effectively vindicate their rights.”

Flores’ lawsuit targets the Miami Dolphins, New York Giants, and Houston Texans, while Wilks’ and Horton’s claims focus on the Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans, respectively.

Flores, the defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings, filed the lawsuit in January 2022 after his termination as head coach of the Dolphins, asserting that the NFL is “rife with racism” regarding the hiring and promotion of Black coaches.

“The court’s decision recognizes that an arbitration forum under the control of the defendant’s chief executive would deprive employees of their lawful rights,” stated attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor and David E. Gottlieb. “It is long overdue for the NFL to acknowledge this and provide a fair, neutral, and transparent forum for addressing these issues.”

As a result of this ruling, the case is set to proceed to trial, with a pretrial conference scheduled for Friday, April 3rd in New York.