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Tampa Bay Cheerleaders Settle Wage & Hour Class Action


For those readers keeping track, I have documented several NFL cheerleader lawsuits over the past year or so that have alleged potential wage and hour issues.  One of the cases filed was by a group of Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleaders who brought suit on the grounds that they were unlawfully compensated by the team, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA").  (Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cheerleaders File Wage & Hour Suit - Blog).  

Earlier this month, the Buccaneers cheerleaders and the team agreed to settle the suit for $825,000.00, on a claim that originally demanded $661,000.00.  Note that once the $264,000.00 in attorney's fees are taken out, the remaining settlement amount will be split among more than 90 cheerleaders (which amounts to about $6,000.00 for each member of this class action). 

This one is surprising, in that it settled rather quickly (given that it was one of the later FLSA cheerleader lawsuits filed last year).  With that being said, it ultimately came to a final resolution without going to trial and ended up in a favorable result for the cheerleaders, not to mention the team avoiding more bad press by having this drag out further.


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