The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled 3-0 on Thursday that the National Football League cannot compel Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores to resolve his race-discrimination claims in league-run arbitration, allowing the case to proceed in federal court. The panel said the NFL constitution’s arbitration clause, which lets Commissioner Roger Goodell oversee disputes, is “plainly unenforceable” because it denies parties arbitration “in any meaningful sense.” The decision affirms a March 2023 order by U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni and revives Flores’ civil claims against the league and three franchises—the Denver Broncos, New York Giants and Houston Texans—while earlier orders sending his claims against the Miami Dolphins to arbitration remain intact. Flores, who was fired by the Dolphins after the 2021 season, sued in February 2022 alleging that teams conducted “sham” interviews to satisfy the NFL’s Rooney Rule and that Black coaches face systemic discrimination in hiring and promotion. NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said the league “respectfully disagrees” with the ruling and will seek further review, a move that could take the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court. The judgment comes four days after the league lost a similar bid in the Jon Gruden email-leak case, intensifying scrutiny of the NFL’s reliance on private arbitration and increasing the likelihood that senior executives and team owners will be questioned under oath in open court.