Hello, and welcome to Training with LegalEase. Today’s topic is about student athletes, and we will discuss whether student athletes are employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
A group of former student athletes recently filed a lawsuit against the NCAA alleging that when they participated in college sports, they were employees and should have received pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Let’s back up a moment and talk about the Fair Labor Standards Act. As we’ve discussed, under this federal statute, all employees are entitled to minimum wage plus overtime pay for every 40-hour work week. The question is whether student athletes can be considered employees under this statute.
This is a big issue in the legal field. The National Labor Relations Board recently ruled that athletes were employees, and so we are all waiting for a ruling by this federal court.
Let’s talk more about the case. In Johnson vs. NCAA, the athletes alleged they were employees and demanded backpay. The NCAA made an argument that was very interesting. The NCAA argued there is a distinction under FLSA between people who work as employees and people who participate in activities. The NCAA argued the students were participating in an activity they enjoyed for their own benefit and then made a general statement that student athletes should never be allowed to claim that they are entitled to any compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The case went to appeal and the appellant Court refused to rule that student athletes can never file suit under the FLSA. The Court returned the case to the lower court and ruled that, if the lower court finds that the student athletes were:
This means the case will be resolved based on the facts. The lower court ruling will be interesting, so stay tuned. We will keep watch over this.
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