Skip to main content

What I've Been Reading This Week: N.F.L. Cheerleader Wage & Hour Lawsuit Edition


Every so often, I come across a few good articles on a particular topic during the week that warrant a "What I've Been Reading This Week" post dedicated solely to that topic.  Given the recent announcement of a settlement of the first Oakland Raiders cheerleader lawsuit for $1.25 million (plus a few other provisions), I thought this would be a good time to note some articles on the wage and hour fights of these current and former N.F.L. cheerleaders.  As always, below are a few articles that caught my eye this week.


An Inside Look at the Wage & Hour Fight of the N.F.L. Cheerleaders

Bloomberg Businessweek has a very good article that takes an inside look at the wage and hour lawsuits brought by several N.F.L. cheerleaders.  The article has a very intriguing take at the impact these lawsuits have had, not just on the other cheerleaders who are now out of work (for instance, this is the first time in nearly 5 decades that the Buffalo Bills will not have cheerleaders on the sidelines) but also on the overall value that the cheerleaders bring to the teams and the league.


What Value do N.F.L. Cheerleaders Add?

Howard Bloom's article takes a close look at the actual value that the N.F.L. cheerleaders bring to the team and the league and compares it to the minimal salaries the cheerleaders actually make.  The article notes how instrumental cheerleaders have become in the league, such as the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, and points out how earlier this year, the Atlanta Falcons offered an incentive to allow season ticket holders to order a seat-side visit by a Falcons cheerleader.  Sounds to me like the cheerleaders certainly bring value to the league...the question then becomes, just how valuable are they and what compensation are they entitled?


Cheerleaders v. the N.F.L. - A Comparison of Lawsuits

I really enjoyed this article from the Wall Street Journal if for no other reason then it had a good chart that breaks down the pay rate (or lack thereof) of each cheerleader that has brought a wage and hour claim this year.  Interestingly enough, the article highlights two teams that are paying its cheerleaders a lawful wage, the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboy, and contrasts their pay rates with the teams that have been sued by current and former cheerleaders.  Like the above article from Bloomberg Businessweek, this article primarily focuses on the Buffalo Bills lawsuit as that one has garnered a lot of attention since the team decided to disband the cheerleading squad for this season.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum, it was noted that emplo
Post a Comment
Read more

What I’ve Been Reading This Week

A few years ago, I remember when the “Fight for $15” movement was taking off around the country.  Lo and behold, it appears that a $15/hour minimum wage is not the stopping point, which should be no surprise.  As the below article notes, New York is aggressively moving to ramp up hourly wage rates even higher.  While all the  below articles are worth a read, I called particular attention to that one. As always, below are a couple article that caught my eye this week. Disney World Workers Reject Latest Contract Offer Late last week, it was announced that workers at Disney World had rejected the most recent contract offer from the company, calling on their employer to do better.  As Brooks Barnes at The New York Times writes, the unions that represent about 32,000 workers at Disney World reported their members resoundingly rejected the 5 year contract offer which would have seen workers receive a 10% raise and retroactive increased back pay.  While Disney’s offer would have increased pa
Post a Comment
Read more

Utah Non-Compete Bill Falters in House

Last month, a non-compete bill sponsored by Representative Brian Greene (Republican from Pleasant Grove) & up for vote in the Utah House failed to make it through the Legislature.  The bill sought to ban enforcement of non-competes if they came after a worker was already employed, given no compensation (such as a bonus or promotion) for signing the non-compete, and laid off within six months.  However, by a 22 - 49 vote, the bill was resoundingly defeated after some business groups lobbied to kill the non-compete bill.  One group in particular, The Free Enterprise Utah coalition, argued that the Utah State Legislature should hold off on any changes to non compete laws in the state until a survey about non competes was done among Utah businesses.  Representative Greene had countered this claim and argued that a survey was not needed to show that the current non compete laws in the states allowed many businesses, including some small high tech companies in the state, to per
Post a Comment
Read more