On Feb. 1, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a class action lawsuit in federal court against the NFL and several NFL teams. The lawsuit was clearly designed to capture national headlines as it expressly mentions it is being filed on the first day of Black History Month and quotes Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The complaint also includes text messages from New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, photo arrays of the (mostly white) owners, general managers, and coaches in the NFL, and a comparison of the NFL’s players to slaves working on a plantation. Flores’ complaint also details past NFL controversies regarding the integration of Black players, the unemployment of Colin Kaepernick, and the firing of Jon Gruden in 2021 for his inappropriate emails.

Many have already predicted that this lawsuit will shine a light on the troubling statistics regarding the lack of Black coaches and general managers in today’s NFL and result in more opportunities for others in the future. But do Flores’ claims have any legal merit?