Pittsburgh Steelers linebackers coach Brian Flores dialed up an all-out blitz against forced arbitration Monday, joining a virtual press conference rallying support for a bill to ban the practice.
The National Football League appears set to enforce an arbitration clause in Flores’ employment agreement that would move out of the public spotlight a racial discrimination lawsuit that Flores, who is Black, filed against it and three teams.
“With forced arbitration, my case will be litigated behind closed doors, confidentially, and without transparency, essentially done in secrecy,” Flores said. “Without transparency there can be no accountability, and without accountability, we can’t create the change we desperately need.”
Flores called on Congress to air it out and pass a bill introduced by Georgia Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson that would prevent federal courts from enforcing arbitration clauses in employment, consumer, antitrust and civil rights cases. The House is expected to vote later this week on the legislation.
Johnson said he hopes Flores’ case will raise the profile of this issue, much like Gretchen Carlson’s lawsuit against then-Fox News CEO Roger Ailes focused attention on forced arbitration in sexual harassment cases. Carlson was prevented from also suing Fox by an arbitration clause in her employment contract.
Earlier this month, President Joe Biden signed a law to ban arbitration in sexual assault and harassment cases. That legislation had broad bipartisan...
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