Earlier this month, a federal judge in California granted Major League Baseball’s motion to dismiss the minor league players’ antitrust lawsuit. On Wednesday, the minor league players informed the court that they plan to appeal the decision.
The lawsuit—a class action filed in 2014—alleges that the MLB violated federal antitrust laws by suppressing the compensation of minor league players through its anti-trust exemption. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. dismissed the case pursuant to a January 2015 decision in which the 9th Circuit upheld the MLB’s antitrust exemption.
Judge Gilliam wrote in his opinion that the minor league players have a persuasive policy argument, but believes that the argument must be presented to Congress or the Supreme Court. The minor league players asked Judge Gilliam to issue a final judgment of dismissal so that they may appeal.