I have been saying it for a while now. The NCAA -- or whatever organization replaces them -- will have to make student-athletes employees, form unions and arbitrate just as the NFL and other pro teams do to come into compliance with the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. One lost lawsuit after another -- especially the most-recent Supreme Court ruling and opinion -- points to a day when student-athletes will become employees. A new lawsuit, brought by a football player, could be the next step in that progression.
A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit heard opposing arguments from NCAA attorneys and from attorneys representing former Villanova football player Trey Johnson and other athletes about whether Division I college athletes are employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The judges found the NCAA’s core principle that college athletes shouldn’t be paid as unpersuasive and incongruous. The judges signaled they view college athletes as employees.
The panel’s decision, which will be made later this year, could be another step toward college athletes gaining recognition as employees similar to work-study classmates. Meanwhile, universities and the NCAA would be required to pay those athletes as joint employers.
NCAA, attorney Steven Katz found a “hot bench,” as the judges quickly launched into challenging questions and interruptions. Katz warned if the players win, it would “create a minefield of unforeseen consequences” that might prove detrimental to women athletes and raise thorny legal questions under two other laws, Title VII and Title IX.
Should the NCAA appeal that ruling later this year, it could go right back to the Supreme Court where the NCAA will face another "hot bench" that has already rendered an opinion on the matter.
I know collegiate athletics would like to avoid making student-athletes employees but it appears our US Constitution stands in the way and that ultimately, they (whether NCAA or another body) will be forced down this path.
Share your thoughts here.
www.sportico.com
A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit heard opposing arguments from NCAA attorneys and from attorneys representing former Villanova football player Trey Johnson and other athletes about whether Division I college athletes are employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The judges found the NCAA’s core principle that college athletes shouldn’t be paid as unpersuasive and incongruous. The judges signaled they view college athletes as employees.
The panel’s decision, which will be made later this year, could be another step toward college athletes gaining recognition as employees similar to work-study classmates. Meanwhile, universities and the NCAA would be required to pay those athletes as joint employers.
NCAA, attorney Steven Katz found a “hot bench,” as the judges quickly launched into challenging questions and interruptions. Katz warned if the players win, it would “create a minefield of unforeseen consequences” that might prove detrimental to women athletes and raise thorny legal questions under two other laws, Title VII and Title IX.
Should the NCAA appeal that ruling later this year, it could go right back to the Supreme Court where the NCAA will face another "hot bench" that has already rendered an opinion on the matter.
I know collegiate athletics would like to avoid making student-athletes employees but it appears our US Constitution stands in the way and that ultimately, they (whether NCAA or another body) will be forced down this path.
Share your thoughts here.
NCAA Amateurism Roasted by ‘Hot Bench’ in Federal Appeals Hearing
If the NCAA thought a federal appeals court would be sympathetic to college athletes being denied employment status, that was a bad scouting report.
www.sportico.com
