NCAA Asks U.S. Appeals Court to Block Athletes Lawsuit

The NCAA has requested the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit block a lawsuit where athletes are requesting they be paid as employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Division I athletes and former athletes filed suit alleging student athletes are employees of the colleges and universities they attend and under the FLSA, they should be paid hourly wages for the time they spend playing sports. The trial court ruled the students could pursue their FLSA claims against the NCAA as a joint employer.

The NCAA moved for an immediate appeal on the grounds that the Third Circuit has not provided an opinion on the matter and the lower courts ruling deviates from opinions of the Seventh and Ninth circuits, which held the NCAA is not a joint employer of student athletes under FLSA.

In a statement to the Associated Press, Plaintiff’s attorney Paul McDonald said the athletes are not seeking large sums of money, but a share of the millions spent on their coaches, college administrators and facilities. He estimated for five-month long sports, they may make roughly $2,000 per month or $10,000 each academic year.

The NCAA has compared the student athletes to students who participate in campus activities such as band, theater groups and various other activities without pay. According to McDonald, these kinds of campus organizations are run by students, whereas athletes have their time managed by their coaches in a manner similar to employment.

Whether athletes should be treated as employees is an issue that is getting more and more attention and must be examined. A senior attorney for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) wrote in a memo dated September 2021 that college athletes ought to be considered school employees. The NLRB said last month that it would investigate a claim of unfair labor practices regarding the rights of basketball and football athletes at the University of Southern California.

The arguments were set to take place before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on February 15, 2023, and this story will be updated once the ruling has been released.