NFL lawsuits overview:
- Who: The National Football League has been in the news recently for a proposed class action lawsuit, a settlement, a granting of class certification and its continued push for arbitration of claims brought by a former head coach.
- Why: The cases revolve(d) around claims of racial discrimination, streaming issues, antitrust violations and benefit plan mismanagement.
- Where: The NFL lawsuits are nationwide.
The National Football League (NFL)’s annual rookie draft began April 27 and continues for several days. This is when young athletes’ dreams of playing professional football on the world’s biggest stage becomes a reality.
Amid excitement regarding the 2023 NFL Draft, the league has also been in the headlines for a proposed class action lawsuit, a settlement, a granting of class certification and continuing to fight to arbitrate claims brought by a former head coach.
NFL says former head coach must arbitrate claims league fosters culture of racial discrimination
The NFL continued its battle with Brian Flores, former Miami Dolphins head coach, in a New York federal court in February, with the league arguing claims it fostered a culture of racial discrimination must be arbitrated.
Flores, a Black man, claims he was passed up for a head coaching position with the New York Giants in favor of a white candidate, arguing he deserved the job after posting back-to-back winning seasons with Miami.
“NFL remains rife with racism, particularly when it comes to the hiring and retention of Black Head Coaches, Coordinators and General Managers,” Flores states in the lawsuit.
The NFL, meanwhile, argues Flores’ claims must be arbitrated, rather than go through litigation, saying all of its coaches are contractually obligated to have an arbitrator hear any disputes
Click here to read more about the NFL racial discrimination lawsuit.
NFL settles responsibility claims for Game Pass Pro international stream crashes
Missing moments during a sports game due to a streaming issue can be agonizing, but have you ever wondered who is to blame for the momentary outages that only seem to happen during the most critical times?
In February, the NFL agreed to settle claims revolving around streaming service outages brought against it by an NFL Game Pass Pro subscriber.
The subscriber argued the NFL was responsible for service disruptions during the NFL Game Pass Pro international stream of the 2020 Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.
Kansas City came out victorious in that matchup, but the Game Pass Pro subscriber argued he and others like him were unable to view the game’s most critical moments due to alleged issues with the stream.
A federal judge overseeing the lawsuit dismissed the complaint without prejudice, but the subscriber can reopen it if the settlement was not consummated within 30 days.
Read more about the NFL’s settlement with Game Pass Pro subscribers here.
Class certification granted for NFL, DirecTV antitrust laws claims
Watching NFL games at a restaurant or sports bar is a weekly tradition for many football-loving American consumers; however, a group of NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers filed a class action lawsuit against the duo.
Class certification was granted in February to a group of bars, restaurants and NFL fans who accuse the NFL and DirecTV of committing antitrust violations with their exclusivity agreement for NFL Sunday Ticket.
The federal judge overseeing the complaint says he determined the group of NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers had done enough to successfully allege antitrust violations against the NFL and DirecTV and that there have been classwide damages.
The NFL had previously argued against class certification, accusing the group of commercial and residential subscribers of simply using the antitrust complaint as a jumping off point for more claims against the league.
Click here to read more about the antitrust lawsuit filed against the NFL and DirecTV.
NFL benefit plan administrators repeatedly lied to plan members, class action says
In February, a group of former NFL players filed a class action against a pair of NFL benefit plans and their administrators.
The players filed their complaint against the NFL Player Disability & Survivor Benefit Plan and the NFL Player Disability & Neurocognitive Benefit Plan over claims the plan administrators breached their fiduciary duty of loyalty to the plans’ members.
The former NFL players argue the plan administrators repeatedly lied and made material misrepresentations about the plans, while committing alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
It remains to be seen whether the players’ claims will be successful. Click here to read more about their proposed class action lawsuit.
What do you think of the NFL lawsuits? Will you watch the 2023 NFL Draft? Let us know in the comments.
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One thought on 4 lawsuits to be aware of during the 2023 NFL Draft
Flores Lawsuit is frivolous on Race basis. He is another coach to be fired and passed over get over it.