Shocking Football Lawsuits: Discrimination, Hazing, and Fraud

Football lawsuits are moving through courts at every level of the sport right now, from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that cleared Brian Flores’s racial discrimination case for trial to fresh filings over hazing, sexual abuse, locker-room assaults, disability discrimination, and fraud inside the NFL’s concussion settlement fund. The cases below are the ones currently shaping how football programs are held accountable in 2025 and 2026.

Brian Flores and Racial Discrimination in NFL Hiring

Brian Flores, now defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL in February 2022 alleging systemic racism in the hiring and retention of Black head coaches, coordinators, and general managers. Former coaches Steve Wilks and Ray Horton have since joined as co-plaintiffs.¹

Flores, fired as head coach of the Miami Dolphins after consecutive winning seasons, accused the New York Giants and the Denver Broncos of conducting “sham” interviews with him solely to satisfy the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview minority candidates for coaching vacancies.² The complaint also alleges the Houston Texans declined to hire Flores and later retaliated against him for filing suit. The lawsuit names the NFL, the Giants, Broncos, and Texans along with 29 unnamed “John Doe” teams.³

The NFL spent years trying to force the dispute into league-controlled arbitration overseen by Commissioner Roger Goodell. In August 2025, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that effort, calling the NFL’s arbitration process “arbitration in name only” that “fails to bear even a passing resemblance” to traditional arbitration.¹ On May 26, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the NFL’s appeal, clearing the case to proceed toward trial in open court. Justice Brett Kavanaugh dissented.⁴

On May 20, 2026, Flores filed an amended complaint describing the NFL’s head-coach hiring process as a “closed and highly interconnected ecosystem” governed by uniform league rules rather than independent team decisions. The amended filing also alleged that Goodell “outrageously” misinterpreted league guidelines to maintain control over arbitration.⁵ Discovery is now underway. Flores is seeking 24 years of hiring and employment data from nearly every NFL team, which the league has called “punishingly overbroad.”⁶ An NFL spokesperson said the league is “fully prepared to defend ourselves as this matter proceeds.”⁴

Fraud Inside the NFL Concussion Settlement

The NFL’s uncapped concussion settlement fund, established in 2013 to resolve class-action claims that the league failed to warn players about repeated head injury risks, has paid out more than $1.6 billion across roughly 2,100 claims. Qualifying diagnoses include ALS, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, and varying levels of dementia.⁷

On June 8, 2026, two court-appointed federal special masters filed a 51-page statement barring five law firms from the settlement program after finding a “reasonable basis” for fraud. The special masters concluded the firms ran an “organized scheme” steering former players to doctors who provided Parkinson’s diagnoses regardless of actual symptoms. The firms had been involved with 98 former players. Fifty-seven claims were previously approved and paid, totaling more than $95 million, with roughly $20 million going to the attorneys. The special masters ordered 37 pending claims denied and said there was reason to doubt the diagnoses underlying all 57 paid claims. Affected players may seek new evaluations from program-approved physicians.⁸

Fraud is not the only problem. A Washington Post investigation found that the settlement’s claims administrator has been denying claims even when diagnoses come from settlement-approved doctors. Of 1,221 claims based on such diagnoses, 343 (28 percent) were denied, often on the ground that depression or sleep disorders rather than brain injuries primarily caused the cognitive impairment. In three reported cases, players died before their claims were resolved. The pool of settlement-approved doctors has also shrunk by more than 60 percent since 2018.⁹ A separate 2020 lawsuit identified racial bias in the dementia testing protocol used to evaluate Black players, leading to a shift to race-neutral testing standards.⁷

Ohio State and the Richard Strauss Abuse Claims

Ohio State University has now paid out more than $161 million to resolve lawsuits alleging that former campus physician Richard Strauss sexually abused male student-athletes and students from the mid-1970s through the late 1990s. A 2019 investigation by the law firm Perkins Coie concluded Strauss abused at least 177 men and that the university knew of the conduct but failed to stop him. Strauss was never charged with a crime, denied the allegations, and died by suicide in 2005.¹⁰

By early 2026, Ohio State had already settled with 317 survivors for more than $61 million.¹¹ In May 2026, 30 former Ohio State football players, including former team captains and NFL veterans, joined the federal litigation.¹² On June 3, 2026, the university’s board of trustees unanimously approved a $100 million settlement covering 279 of the 280 remaining survivors with pending claims. A court-directed mediation overseen by Judge Layn Phillips produced the agreement, and a court-appointed special master will interview each individual to determine the distribution of funds.¹³

Northwestern Hazing Lawsuits Settled

Northwestern University’s football program became the center of a major legal crisis in 2023 after former players came forward with allegations of systemic hazing, sexual abuse, and racial discrimination. Head coach Pat Fitzgerald was fired in July 2023, and dozens of lawsuits followed.

Former players described a culture of ritualized abuse targeting freshmen. One practice known as “running” involved masked upperclassmen restraining victims in a dark locker room and subjecting them to dry-humping, with targets selected through a signal called the “Shrek clap.” Other alleged practices included “the Carwash,” in which naked players were forced to rub against each other at the shower entrance, and naked center-quarterback snaps.¹⁴ The lawsuits also alleged racial discrimination, including coaches forcing players of color to cut their hair to conform to a so-called “Wildcat Way” and teammates shaving “Cinco de Mayo” into a player’s hair.¹⁵

In May 2025, a Cook County judge finalized a settlement of 34 remaining lawsuits filed by former student-athletes. The financial terms were not disclosed.¹⁶ Fitzgerald, who had filed his own $130 million wrongful termination lawsuit, reached a separate undisclosed settlement with the university on August 21, 2025. Northwestern acknowledged that discovery in Fitzgerald’s case “did not establish that any player reported hazing to Coach Fitzgerald or that Coach Fitzgerald condoned or directed any hazing.”¹⁷

Delaware State and DeSean Jackson

Former Delaware State University football player Malachi Biggs filed a 62-page lawsuit in Delaware Superior Court against the university, head coach DeSean Jackson, defensive back Anthony Hebert, and team officials Jane Hicks and Travis Clark. The suit centers on an incident alleged to have occurred on November 19, 2025, three days before the MEAC championship game.¹⁸

According to the complaint, Hebert put Biggs in a chokehold in the locker room. Despite Biggs attempting to “tap out,” Hebert allegedly rendered him unconscious and dropped him face-first onto the floor. Biggs suffered a shattered jaw, a lacerated chin, a severed tongue ligament, and what the filing describes as “irreparable damage” to at least a dozen teeth. He has undergone numerous surgeries, including bone grafting and tooth extractions, and requires years of additional treatment.¹⁸

The lawsuit accuses Jackson of fostering a “tough guy” philosophy and “gang-associated mentality” that created an unsafe environment where violent behavior went unchecked.¹⁹ Jackson has publicly denied fostering or encouraging hazing, bullying, or a violent environment. No criminal charges were filed following the incident, and Delaware State has said it does not comment on pending litigation. Biggs is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.¹⁸

Disability Discrimination at Utah

On February 5, 2026, former University of Utah running back Devin Green filed a federal lawsuit alleging that coaching staff and university officials discriminated against him because of his Type 1 diabetes. The case names running backs coach Mark Atuaia, former head coach Kyle Whittingham, Athletic Director Mark Harlan, and several other athletic department administrators.²⁰

Green transferred to Utah from UNLV in spring 2025 and never saw game action the following season. According to the complaint, Atuaia repeatedly limited Green’s practice reps, excluded him from full-contact drills, and barred him from traveling or dressing for most games, despite medical clearance from the university’s own sports medicine staff. Green alleges the coach said he was “scared” to put him into a scrimmage because of his diabetes and eventually directed him to enter the NCAA transfer portal, saying he could not “push” Green because of the condition.²¹ Green’s athletic scholarship was terminated without meaningful notice, forcing him to withdraw from the university.²² Green is seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The case is currently in the briefing stage over the defendants’ motion to dismiss.²⁰

High School Programs in Court

Football litigation is not limited to the pros and major colleges. Two recent high school cases show the same patterns playing out at the youth level.

Del Campo High School, California

Former Del Campo High School student-athlete Riley Cochran-Hernandez filed a 23-page federal civil rights complaint on April 16, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. The case, filed under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, names former football coaches Jeff Remington and Matt Costa and the San Juan Unified School District as defendants.²³

Cochran-Hernandez alleges years of racial discrimination by coaching staff, including racial slurs and a remark by Remington about reporting students from immigrant backgrounds to ICE for “bounties.” The complaint also alleges coaches forced players to practice through serious injuries. Cochran-Hernandez says he suffered a torn quadriceps in spring 2025 that was ignored by staff, leaving him with peripheral nerve damage.²⁴ A school district internal investigation substantiated several allegations, including the ICE comment and the medical negligence, concluding the coaches’ leadership was “detrimental to student safety and well-being.” Both coaches were removed, and all varsity coaches were let go after the 2025 season.²⁵

Ursuline High School, Ohio

Ursuline High School in Youngstown and the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown face two federal lawsuits filed in September 2025 involving members of the school’s football team. The first alleges that football players subjected a teammate to hazing and sexual assault as part of an initiation ritual. The second, filed September 10, 2025, alleges that a football player harassed a female student, including an incident in which he allegedly “chased [the victim], picked her up, violently dropped her on the ground twice, and dragged her across rough turf for 30 feet.” Both lawsuits allege that school officials failed to report incidents to law enforcement or child services and engaged in a cover-up. The school has suspended three football coaches named in the initial lawsuit, and the plaintiffs’ attorney has indicated additional lawsuits are anticipated.²⁶

1
CNN. NFL Supreme Court Brian Flores
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Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Flores v. NFL
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Reuters. U.S. Supreme Court Turns Away NFL Bid to Move Black Coach’s Bias Claims Into Arbitration
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The Athletic. Brian Flores NFL Discrimination Lawsuit Team Subpoenas
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The Athletic. Brian Flores NFL Discrimination Supreme Court Appeal
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NBC San Diego. Law Firms Cheated Filing Claims NFL Concussion Settlement Fund
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The Athletic. NFL Concussion Settlement Fraud Parkinsons Disease
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Brain Injury Association of America. Investigation Shines Light on Large Number of Claim Denials From NFL Concussion Settlement
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The Athletic. Ohio State Settlement Richard Strauss Sexual Abuse Case
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NBC News. Ohio State University Reaches $100 Million Settlement Sex Abuse Suits
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The Washington Post. Ohio State Football Richard Strauss Sexual Abuse
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The Columbus Dispatch. Ohio State Board Trustees Richard Strauss Survivors Settlement
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Daily Northwestern. Former NU Football Player Details Hazing Allegations After Coach Suspension
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WTTW News. Northwestern Hazing Scandal Timeline Allegations Investigations and Lawsuits
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Campus Safety Magazine. Northwestern University Settles Hazing Lawsuits Ending Long Legal Battle
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The Athletic. Pat Fitzgerald Northwestern Settlement Hazing
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WHYY. DeSean Jackson Delaware State Football Lawsuit
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6ABC. DeSean Jackson Named in Lawsuit Alleged Assault DSU Football Player
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PACER Monitor. Green v. University of Utah et al
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Sports Litigation Alert. University of Utah Athlete’s Claim Calls Into Question Disability Laws
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Law.com. Former Utah Running Back Sues University Alleging He Was Sidelined Over Diabetes
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KCRA. Del Campo Student Athlete Files Lawsuit Abuse
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U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California. Cochran-Hernandez v. San Juan Unified School District et al., Complaint
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Sacramento Bee. Del Campo High School Football Lawsuit
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Ideastream Public Media. New Lawsuit Filed Against Ursuline High School and One of Its Football Players