​Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ lawsuit against the NFL and several teams for race discrimination and retaliation is still lingering “at the starting block” or “as the teams mill about the players’ tunnels,” a federal judge wrote on Wednesday,But she also wrote that the case is staying in court.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMore from Sportico.comU.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni denied motions by the Tennessee Titans, Arizona Cardinals and the Miami Dolphins to reconsider whether the case should be dispatched to an arbitration process overseen by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.The ruling comes several months after Judge Caproni issued a similar holding in a reconsideration motion by the league and the New York Giants, Denver Broncos and Houston Texans. These rulings also apply to claims brought by fellow coaches Steve Wilks and Ray Horton.Flores, who sued in 2022, hopes his case is eventually certified as a class action on behalf of all Black head coaches, offensive and defensive coordinators, and QB coaches, as well as general managers and Black candidates for those positions who would fall within the applicable statute of limitations.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFlores contends teams use “sham interviews” to make it appear they are interested in hiring Black candidates when they would allegedly prefer to hire a white candidate. Whether the case is certified as a class action remains to be seen and likely won’t be determined for many months.The league and teams have argued that the dispute should be in arbitration, which is very different from litigation. Arbitration is conducted in private and parties are subject to confidentiality restrictions. Litigation, in contrast, is conducted in public—so media can follow along—with testimony and evidence sometimes publicly visible.Coaches’ employment contracts contain language that reflects the league constitution and states, in sum, coaches agree that legal disputes with their teams are heard before a league-run arbitration. But that argument failed to persuade the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which in reviewing the Flores case held that federal law requires an independent process.The major significance to Flores v. NFL remaining in court is that the public is more likely to learn about testimony and evidence offered by various team and league officials concerning race issues in hiring. Teams must follow the Rooney Rule, which requires, among other things, that teams interview at least one candidate who is a person of color for a head coaching position and at least two external candidates who are persons of color or women, including for coordinator and general manager jobs.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementTo the extent an owner or team official made controversial remarks in an email about following the Rooney Rule, it could become public. The same goes for text messages, social media correspondences and written