NCAA facing lawsuit over minimum wage laws

[JURIST]

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) [official website] was sued [complaint] Monday for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) [materials]. The lawsuit, brought by a former college athlete against the NCAA and NCAA Division 1 Member Schools, alleges that defendants both jointly agreed and conspired to violate the wage and hour provisions [materials] of the FLSA and that the NCAA affords better treatment to its students in work study part-time employment programs than its student athletes. Work study participants, "students who work at food service counters or sell programs or usher at athletic events, or who wait on tables or wash dishes in dormitories," qualify as temporary employees of the NCAA and are thus paid at least a federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour for their non-academic work. According to the suit, student athletes engage in a more rigorous commitment than work study students, from time required to stricter, more exacting supervision by coaches and trainers. The complaint goes on to say that without the student athletes' performance many student jobs such as ushering fans and selling programs would not exist. Plaintiff is seeking damages for herself and those similarly situated who elect to opt-in to this action pursuant to the collective action section of the FLSA, in order to remedy the defendants' violation of the FLSA hourly wage provisions that have deprived plaintiff and others of lawfully earned wages. [MORE]