November 22, 2019 Baseball / Hockey / Labor & Employment / Litigation / MLB / NFL / NHL / Tax

Players’ Unions v. Jock Taxes: An Inside Look at This Waging Legal Battle

Last week, we reported that the NHL Players’ Association, MLB Players’ Association, and NFL Players’ Association sued the city of Pittsburgh for charging a fee on nonresident professional athletes that play within the city. These fees, often referred to as jock taxes, have come under fire over the past few years.

The players’ associations are not challenging the legality of jock taxes in general, about which you can continue reading here. It is well established that states and municipalities have the right to tax …

November 15, 2019 Baseball / Hockey / Labor & Employment / Litigation / MLB / NFL / NHL / Tax

NFL, MLB, and NHL Players’ Associations Sue Pittsburgh Over “Unconstitutional” Athletes Fee

The city of Pittsburgh is being challenged for a fee it is charging nonresident professional athletes who play for Pittsburgh teams.

The NHL Players’ Association, MLB Players’ Association, and NFL Players’ Association, along with baseball player Jeff Francoeur and hockey players Kyle Palmieri and Scott Wilson, have sued the city of Pittsburgh. The city currently imposes a three percent general revenue income fee on professional athletes who reside out of state. Athletes who live in the city, however, pay only a one percent fee. Pittsburgh …

March 10, 2018 MLB

Four MLB Teams Called Out for Potential Misuse of Revenue-Sharing Funds

The Miami Marlins, Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Tampa Bay Rays are under scrutiny as the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) filed a grievance against them on February 23, 2018. The grievance called into question whether their use of revenue-sharing funds has been consistent with the teams’ collective bargaining agreement.

The collective bargaining agreement names its “principle objective” as “promot[ing] the growth of the Game and the industry on an individual Club and on an aggregate basis.” In doing so, the agreement requires that …

October 15, 2015 Fraud

Yankees Minor Leaguer Sues “Agent”

On Friday, October 9, 2015, a minor league player in the New York Yankees farm system filed a lawsuit alleging that a man posing as a sports agent cheated him out of $100,000.

The player, Angelo Gumbs, was drafted by the New York Yankees in 2010, and currently plays second base for the Tampa Yankees in Florida. According to the complaint, Richard Earl Davis, Jr. represented that he was a baseball agent certified by the Major League Baseball Players’ Association (MLBPA). Gumbs then signed a …

September 16, 2015 Antitrust / MLB

Minor Leaguers’ Antitrust Action Against MLB is Dismissed

On September 14, 2015, a federal judge in California granted Major League Baseball’s motion to dismiss the minor league players’ antitrust action. The class action claimed that the MLB violated federal antitrust law, alleging that the league suppressed the compensation of minor league players through its antitrust exemption. This historic exemption was established by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1922.

District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr.’s decision dismissed the case pursuant to a January 2015 decision in which the 9th Circuit upheld the MLB’s antitrust …