Coach Brian Flores and Members of Congress Call for an End to Forced Arbitration

Washington, DC— Today, in a call hosted by the American Association for Justice, Coach Brian Flores joined Representatives Hank Johnson and Hakeem Jeffries, and forced arbitration scholar Dean Alex Colvin on a press conference to call for the end of forced arbitration. Brian Flores, a former head coach for the Miami Dolphins, filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL and three teams alleging racial discrimination; the Miami Dolphins are attempting to force the case into arbitration. Later this week, the House of Representatives will vote on the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act which would ban forced arbitration in all forms. Should the House and Senate pass the FAIR Act, cases like Coach Flores' would be free to be heard in public courts.

Highlights from Coach Brian Flores remarks include: 

"With forced arbitration my case will be litigated behind closed doors, confidentially and without transparency, essentially done in secrecy. With forced arbitration, there won’t be a jury of my peers who will hear my claims, which is one of the most important and fundamental rights we have in this country."

"Forced arbitration is the crux of why all forms of discrimination are so prevalent in our country -- systemic racism and discrimination. So there’s literally a system in place that uses forced arbitration, which essentially allows for discrimination to continue. Again, there’s a system in place that allows discrimination to continue. Forced arbitration allows an employer to hide behind secret and confidential proceedings. The employer avoids scrutiny and publicity accountability. With this system in place, then how can we believe real justice and real change can occur?"

"If legislation was passed to ban forced arbitration for sexual assault and sexual harassment, why wouldn’t we do the same for race discrimination claims?" 

"[Forced arbitration] silences them and often times the employees throw their hands up because they know it’s a rigged system where they can’t truly get justice. I’ve seen it first-hand these past few months. Coaches and executives who have pretty much thrown their hands up because they figured they are going to be silenced anyway."
 
"I don't want my kids to watch football and think that they just have to be a player. That they can't be a head coach, that they can't be an executive, that they can't be an owner." 

Following the call, AAJ President Navan Ward said the following:

"We were honored to have Coach Flores, along with Congressman Johnson, Congressman Jeffries and Dean Colvin, join AAJ today to talk about their shared goal of ending forced arbitration." 
 

CONTACT Carly Moore Sfregola Email: Carly.Sfregola@justice.org Phone: 202.684.9609