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Pack up the Pom Poms: Buffalo Bills Cheerleaders Suspend Operations


Last week, I had reported on the Buffalo Bills cheerleaders who brought suit against the Bills (and a few others), claiming wage and hour violations, among other complaints (From Pom Poms to the Courtroom, Pt. 3: Buffalo Bills Edition - blog).  

In a somewhat surprising turn of events, the company that oversees operations of the cheerleaders announced late last week that they are suspending operations through at least the end of the upcoming season and the Buffalo Jills will not be on the sideline this season.  This announcement comes just two days after the lawsuit was filed in state Supreme Court.  As the attorney for the five cheerleaders who brought the suit stated, this decision to suspend operations should not affect the suit, since the complained of action already occurred. 

It will be interesting to see whether the Raiders and Bengals (the only other two NFL teams who have cheerleader related wage and hour suits at this time), or any other NFL team for that matter, follows suit and either suspends the operations of their cheerleaders or disbands the groups entirely.  At some point, a decision will have to be made as to whether or not the costs and litigation that is starting to crop up in regard to the cheerleaders is worth the hassle of actually keeping these cheerleading teams around.  It would not surprise me if we see a team or two disband their cheerleading teams for the foreseeable future.


Special thanks to USA Today for additional information on the topic:  http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2014/04/24/buffalo-bills-cheerleaders-suspend-operations/8116067/

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