One More Time: New Lawsuit Argues NCAA Must Pay Athletes Minimum Wage

Trey Johnson, a former defensive back for Villanova University, has sued the NCAA, arguing that the organization has violated federal labor law and that it must pay student-athletes a minimum wage.

In his lawsuit, Johnson argues that student-athletes clearly constitute employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Specifically, he notes that college students in work-study programs are classified as employees, meaning that they are subject to minimum wage laws. Meanwhile, student-athletes, who work longer schedules and create the need for some of these work-study …

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Efforts of UPenn Athletes to Obtain Employee Status Denied Once Again

Following the dismissal of a suit brought by UPenn athletes seeking compensation as employees under the FLSA, the athletes are arguing that the Seventh Circuit’s reliance on a 1992 Seventh Circuit case, which rejected Fair Labor Standards claims brought by a prisoner, essentially placed them on similar legal footing as prison laborers. Though the athletes are aware fighting for employee status as college athletes is far-fetched based on the courts’ consistent denial of such claims, the UPenn athletes’ argument rests on the proposition that they …

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Former Sous Chef Wants Florida Golf Club to Fork Over OT Pay

On November 6, 2015, former sous chef Marcos Castro initiated a putative class action against a Florida golf club, claiming that the club withheld overtime compensation in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Castro alleges that his former employer, Windstar Club Inc., failed to compensate him with “time-and-a-half” pay for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week. Castro claims that other employees in similar positions were also intentionally deprived of overtime compensation and he seeks an expedited order so that he …

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More Cheerleaders are Chiming in: Milwaukee Bucks Dancers File Wage Action, Joining Trend

On Thursday September 24, 2015, former Milwaukee Bucks cheerleading team member Lauren Herington filed a class action against the NBA organization regarding minimum wage violation allegations. Herington represents a class of current and former Bucks cheerleaders/dancers, aptly named, the “Bucks Dancers.”

The lawsuit was brought under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and pursuant to Wisconsin state wage and hour laws. The action is seeking increased wages and damages, in addition to injunctive relief for attorneys’ fees, unpaid overtime wages, and unpaid minimum wages. The …

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Interns vs. The Wendy Williams Show

The landmark 2013 decision in Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures that interns on two film production crews were entitled to payment with actual wages has opened the litigation floodgates. In the hotly debated ruling, Judge William H. Pauley III held that Fox Searchlight Pictures violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by not paying its interns.

In the latest example of the ongoing debate over the use of unpaid interns, television’s Wendy Williams Show and production company Lionsgate have been sued for wages by a former …

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