⚖️ Brian Flores v. NFL: Ross fined $1.5M over Dolphins tampering
The NFL called Flores's suit meritless. A judge sent some claims to arbitration and kept others in court; the end result is unknown. ⏳
By MissFortune, money desk · Desk editor Laima Ērkšķe-Kreicberga · · 5 min read
SPLIT RULINGPhoto: K · Pexels LicenseWhat we know
- Brian Flores filed a 58-page class-action complaint in Manhattan federal court on Feb. 1, 2022 against the NFL, the Dolphins, the Giants and the Broncos, ESPN reported. It seeks unspecified damages.
- The NFL called the claims "without merit." The Giants, Dolphins and Broncos each denied them in statements the same day.
- On March 1, 2023, Judge Valerie Caproni ordered most claims to arbitration. Flores's claims against the Giants, Texans and Broncos, and his related claims against the NFL, stayed in court, per the order.
- In August 2022 the NFL fined Dolphins owner Stephen Ross $1.5M and took two draft picks over tampering. Its memo said the Dolphins did not intentionally lose games, Fox News reported.
Nick Sirianni's standing with the Philadelphia Eagles is the argument of the day, with NFL fans trading predictions about his job. Nothing in the documents we read confirms a change either way. What a coaching vacancy reliably produces is the question the NFL has been answering in court since 2022: are the interviews real? The record on that is one complaint, one split ruling and one league fine that was not about hiring at all.
The money is small by NFL standards, which is the point. A $200,000 fine in 2003 for skipping interviews. A $100,000 per-loss offer that Brian Flores alleges and a league memo calls a remark nobody took seriously. And a $1.5M fine on the Dolphins' owner, for tampering rather than for anything Flores said about hiring.
The timeline
July 2003: the first fine under the program
The NFL fined Detroit Lions president Matt Millen $200,000 for hiring coach Steve Mariucci without interviewing any minority candidate, the AP reported via CBS. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue's letter was the first fine under the league's diversity program. The Lions said five minority candidates turned down interviews because Mariucci's hiring looked inevitable, and a team spokesman said the club "respectfully disagree[d]" with the ruling.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)Feb. 1, 2022: the filing
Flores filed a 58-page class-action complaint in Manhattan federal court, naming the NFL, the Dolphins, the Giants and the Broncos, ESPN reported. It alleges the Giants and Broncos interviewed him only to satisfy the Rooney Rule, the league policy requiring interviews of minority candidates. It also alleges Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 for every loss in 2019. It seeks unspecified damages from the NFL.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)Feb. 1-3, 2022: the denials
The NFL said the claims "are without merit." The Giants said Flores "was in the conversation to be our head coach until the eleventh hour." The Dolphins "vehemently" denied the allegations, ESPN reported. The Broncos said the 2019 interview lasted 3½ hours with five team executives, and John Elway called the claims "false and defamatory."
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)March 28, 2022: the league changes the rule
The NFL announced that all 32 teams must hire a minority or female offensive assistant coach, paid from a league-wide fund, ESPN reported. Women were added to the Rooney Rule's language, and a Diversity Advisory Committee was announced. ESPN called the hiring requirement the first hiring mandate in the rule's history. The report does not tie the changes to Flores's suit.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)April 7, 2022: two more coaches join
An amended complaint added coaches Steve Wilks and Ray Horton, plus the Texans, Titans and Cardinals as defendants, ESPN reported. Horton's claim rests partly on ex-Titans coach Mike Mularkey, who said on a 2020 podcast that the owners told him he had the job before the Rooney Rule process. The Titans disputed that account and said no decision was made before all interviews finished. The Cardinals said Wilks's allegations are untrue.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)Aug. 2, 2022: Ross fined $1.5M
After a probe led by Mary Jo White, the NFL suspended Ross through Oct. 17, 2022, fined him $1.5M and took the Dolphins' 2023 first-round and 2024 third-round picks, Fox News reported. The discipline covered improper contact with Tom Brady and Sean Payton. On Flores's tanking claim, the league memo said the Dolphins did not intentionally lose games and that Ross's $100,000 remark was "not intended or taken to be a serious offer." Flores said he was thankful the investigator found his factual allegations true, but disappointed she minimized Ross's offers.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)March 1, 2023: court and arbitration
Judge Valerie Caproni granted the NFL's motion to compel arbitration, except for Flores's claims against the Giants, the Texans and the Broncos, and his related claims against the NFL. Those stayed in court, per the order. Wilks's and Horton's claims, and Flores's claims against the Dolphins, fell inside the grant. The order also notes that non-compliance with the Rooney Rule is not itself actionable.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)"Of course, non-compliance with the Rooney Rule is not, itself, actionable."
Judge Valerie Caproni, footnote 3, opinion and order in Flores v. NFL, March 1, 2023
March 2026: Florida pushes the other way
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier wrote to Roger Goodell, ESPN reported on March 27, 2026, calling the Rooney Rule "blatant race and sex discrimination." He asked for confirmation by May 1, 2026 that the NFL would stop enforcing it in Florida, or face possible civil rights action. The NFL said it believes its policies "are consistent with the law." At the March 31 league meeting, Goodell said the league was not eliminating the rule, per Yahoo Sports.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)The money on record
| Figure | What it is | Who says so |
|---|---|---|
| $200,000 | Fine on Lions president Matt Millen, 2003, for not interviewing minority candidates | NFL commissioner's letter, per AP via CBS |
| $100,000 | Per-loss offer Flores alleges Ross made in 2019 | Flores's complaint, per ESPN; the league memo calls the remark not a serious offer |
| $1.5M | Fine on Ross, 2022, for tampering | NFL memo, per Fox News |
| 2023 first-round and 2024 third-round picks | Forfeited by the Dolphins, 2022 | NFL memo, per Fox News |
Where it stands
The documents we read do not say how Flores's claims ended, in court or in arbitration. They also do not show whether the 2022 rule changes moved hiring: ESPN reported in March 2026 that no Black head coaches were hired for that offseason's 10 openings. The league's file shows fines for missed interviews and for secret phone calls, and, in the documents we read, nothing for interviews that happened but were allegedly for show. MissFortune will take the receipts over the predictions, today included.
Quick quiz · 3 questions
By the numbers
- 13 mofrom first to latest entry on record
- 10receipts behind this story
Earlier on file: Coach fines on record: Jets $50K, NFL $75K, then Rex Ryan · NFL fines Jaquan Brisker $17,911 for hit on Deshaun Watson · NFL fines Roquan Smith $17,911 for facemask on Josh Allen
The Brian Flores file
- Ruled
Judge Caproni ordered most claims to arbitration; Flores's claims against the Giants, Texans and Broncos stayed in court. This story
- Filed
Filed a 58-page class-action complaint in Manhattan federal court against the NFL, Dolphins, Giants and Broncos, per ESPN. This story
On file: The Brian Flores file · The National Football League file
The Ledger
On the record
- Flores filed suit on Feb. 1, 2022; Judge Caproni split the case between arbitration and court on March 1, 2023; the NFL fined Ross $1.5M in August 2022 over tampering, and its memo found no instruction to lose games.
Still rumour
- How Flores's claims ended in court or arbitration, and any change to Nick Sirianni's job, are not in the documents read. Neither is the NFL's answer to Florida's May 1, 2026 deadline.
That's the record. The rest is rumour. - MissFortune
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