Skip to main content

From Pom Poms to the Courtroom: Pt. 5, Tampa Bay Edition


Another month, another lawsuit filed by an N.F.L. cheerleader complaining of violations of minimum wage laws by N.F.L. teams.  

It all started with a Raiders cheerleader in January who filed suit complaining that she was paid around $5 an hour for her work during the season, well below minimum wage (Oakland Raiders Cheerleader Lawsuit).  Inspired by the Raiders lawsuit, a Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader filed a similar suit in early February complaining of wage and hour violations by the team on the grounds that the cheerleaders were only paid $2.85 an hour (Cincinnati Bengals Cheerleader Lawsuit).  In March, a lawsuit was filed by former members of the Buffalo Bills cheerleading group, complaining of wage and hour violations by the team (Buffalo Bills Cheerleader Lawsuit).  Not to be outdone, a New York Jets cheerleader filed suit against the team at the start of this month and complained that she was only paid about $3.77 an hour (New York Jets Cheerleader Lawsuit).* 

*Note that with all of these cheerleader lawsuits, it is claimed that the teams pay them a flat amount for each game/the entire season.  When you take that amount and divide it by the number of hours the cheerleaders work at each home game, hours spent at mandatory practices, cheer clinics, and other team related events over the course of a season, that is how the cheerleaders allege they were paid below minimum wage. 


Now, we have a new lawsuit filed by a Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleader this week, also complaining of wage and hour violations by the team.  The former cheerleader said she cheered for the team during the 2012-2013 season and earned $100 per game.  However, the complaint alleged that this amounted to less than $2 an hour when factoring in unpaid promotional appearances, weekly practices, mandatory cheerleading clinics, and other team related events.  If true, this unpaid time could amount to a Fair Labor Standards Act violation and yet another headache for the N.F.L.


A copy of the complaint filed by the Tampa Bay cheerleader can be found here:  http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/pierre-val-buccaneers-complaint.pdf

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,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Breaking: Labor Secretary Rumored to Be Leaving Administration

A few hours ago, word leaked out that Labor Secretary Marty Walsh (“Walsh”) is in the midst of negotiations to head up the NHL Players Union and leave his position at the Labor Department. Walsh, who has served as the sole Labor Secretary under President Biden, has taken part in a labor renaissance of sorts as support for organized labor has increased during his term as Labor Secretary (although the number of workers that have joined a union over the past two years has not grown as mush as some expected.)  He has also overseen the ongoing negotiations with rail workers over a new contract, although that matter is still on shaky ground and playing out as we speak. As for who might step into the vacant Labor Secretary role, there are already rumblings that President Biden should nominate Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su (a strong labor advocate) or even a progressive like Senator Bernie Sanders.  Until Walsh officially gives his notice, however, I would expect some/many potential...
Post a Comment
Read more

San Diego Rolls Back Vaccine Mandate For City Workers

Last Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted to do away with the vaccine mandate for city employees. The city’s vaccine mandate that was in place required city workers to get the coronavirus vaccine or risk termination.  Perhaps to this surprise of no one, the city’s policy came under fire with 14 employees being terminated and over 100 other employees resigning.  With the coronavirus subsiding, including in Southern California, the San Diego City Council took action. Now, bear in mind, the repeal of the vaccine mandate does not take place immediately. With that being said, the mandate will be repealed March 8th.  I suppose the question now is, what other cities or regions follow San Diego’s lead? For additional information:   https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-01-24/san-diego-repeals-controversial-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-citing-drop-in-cases-hospitalizations
Post a Comment
Read more