Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores has added new allegations to his ongoing lawsuit against the NFL and several teams, claiming that the Dolphins engaged in a ‘culture of retaliation’ after he exercised his legal right to sue. In a newly amended complaint, Flores alleges that the franchise retaliated against him after he filed his discrimination lawsuit.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported that, according to paragraph 235 of the third amended complaint, Flores alleges that the Dolphins failed to pay the severance compensation required under his contract. Then, in 236, he claims that the team attempted to recover money that had already been paid to him.

“To make matters worse, after this lawsuit was filed, the Dolphins filed a letter with Commissioner Goodell seeking an arbitration over claims that Mr. Flores should be required to return hundreds of thousands of dollars of earned income,” Brian Flores alleges as per the legal filing reported by NBC Sports’ Pro Football Talk. “The only reason that the Dolphins filed this request is because Mr. Flores filed this suit and opposed the team’s discriminatory conduct.”

Flores has been in a legal battle with the league and several teams, like the Giants and the Broncos, since 2022. That time, he filed a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination following his dismissal as the Dolphins’ head coach. The former coach argued that the league continues to struggle with systemic issues in the hiring and retention of Black head coaches, coordinators, and general managers. The NFL sought to move the case into its private arbitration system. However, that request was ultimately rejected, allowing the lawsuit to proceed in court.

Back in the day, Flores claimed that owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 for every game the team lost during the 2019 season, believing that a poorer record would improve the Dolphins’ position in the NFL Draft.

Flores had just taken over a Miami team that was widely expected to struggle that year. However, he alleged that Ross went beyond simply accepting a rebuilding season and actively tried to encourage more losses in an effort to secure a higher draft pick.

“To disrespect the game like that, trust was lost, and there were certainly some strained relationships, and ultimately, I think that was my demise in Miami.” Brian Flores said a day after announcing his lawsuit in 2022.

When the team had a 5-11 record, Ross was allegedly “mad” as this middle-of-the-pack finish affected the Dolphins’ “draft position,” per the complaint. With that said and done, Flores managed to bring some semblance of success to South Beach as he had two back-to-back winning seasons as Miami finished 10–6 in 2020 and 9–8 in 2021, but failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Based on these performances, one could speculate that Flores was building something that could have yielded success. But instead, the 45-year-old didn’t get a chance to continue this rebuild as the Dolphins fired him in January 2022. The Vikings’ DC then applied for jobs with the New York Giants and the Houston Texans, but failed to secure a job with either team.

However, a month later, Brian Flores filed the class action lawsuit against the NFL, the Giants, the Dolphins, the Houston Texans, and the Denver Broncos, alleging racial discrimination. The suit unveiled text messages Flores received from Bill Belichick, as well as media reports, proved that the Giants wanted to hire Brian Daboll as head coach before interviewing any minority candidates.

Whereas the allegations against the Broncos stem from 2019, when Flores was looking for his head coaching role but faced poor treatment in Denver, and also accused them of setting “sham” interviews to satisfy the Rooney Rule and then move forward by hiring the names wanted all along. The Texans were added to the lawsuit for the retaliation claim, with Flores stating that Houston didn’t hire him because of the lawsuit.

Amidst these legal proceedings, Flores soon found a new opportunity with the Pittsburgh Steelers, joining Mike Tomlin’s squad as the senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach before joining the Vikings as the DC in the next season. In the meantime, Brian Flores found support in this plight from two veteran black coaches, former Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks and long-time NFL assistant Ray Horton, who joined the lawsuit in April.

With the case gaining steam, the NFL appealed to have the case handled through its arbitration process rather than in open court in New York but faced rejections on various levels. Now, as the case was taken to the Supreme Court, the apex judicial body issued its decision on the future of this case.

How did the Supreme Court rule regarding Brian Flores’ discrimination case?

On May 26, the Supreme Court declined to take up the NFL’s appeal in a class action lawsuit from Brian Flores and other Black coaches who have claimed to have faced racial discrimination during interviews. With this decision, the case will be tried in the court, instead of going through a private arbitration process.

Regarding this ruling, barring Justice Brett Kavanaugh, eight other justices maintained a lower court decision, which was upheld by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in April of 2025, and granted Flores’ case the ability to proceed in federal court.

“The NFL must now accept that its commissioner cannot be the arbitrator over discrimination claims against the league and its teams. We look forward to litigating these claims in court,” David Gottlieb and Douglas Wigdor, Flores’ attorneys representing him, Horton and Wilks, stated in reaction to this ruling.

With the NFL facing scrutiny over its Rooney rule and teams failing to sign a single black head coach ahead of the 2026 season when 10 job openings were available, this ruling in favor of Brian Flores and Co. can play a huge role in the future of diversity hiring in the league.