Oakland, CAThe California labor lawsuit filed by a member of the Oakland Raiders cheerleading squad has since caught the attention of the US Department of Labor (DOL). The latter has launched an investigation into claims by plaintiff Lacy T. (last name withheld to respect Oakland Raider’s security policy) that low wages together with fines and other expenses can combine to leave a cheerleader with little to show at the end of the regular season.
A handful of other teams have come under DOL scrutiny, suggesting that abuse could be more widespread. Chairman of the Center for Labor Research and Education at UC Berkley, Ken Jacobs, said in comments published in The San Francisco Chronicle (The Chronicle, 1/31/14) that such alleged violations of California labor code by the Oakland Raiders and other teams does not sit well from a public relations standpoint.
“I can imagine that this would be something the Raiders would want to resolve,” Jacobs said in comments published in The Chronicle. “If this practice is common for the other teams, you might very well see other investigations.”
Most in California are familiar with the story of Lacy T., a 28-year-old stay-at-home mom who has found fault with the pay practices of the venerable California football team. Not only can various fines and expenses, together with the loss of meal breaks, rest periods and overtime pay, eat into the effective hourly wage, but wages are also allegedly withheld until the end of the football season. As a result, according to the lawsuit, Raiderettes do not benefit from any infusion of cash while they are actively engaged with the club during the football season.
The plaintiff, who filed her lawsuit in Alameda County Court as a proposed class action, alleges that such practices violate labor laws. To that end, the newfound involvement of the federal DOL suggests that not just California labor employment law is being circumvented in such cases.
A spokesperson for the DOL’s regional office in San Francisco would not comment further on grounds that the matter is currently an open case. However, Jose Carnevali confirmed in comments published in The Chronicle that the federal investigation concerned “the team’s cheerleading squad,” and not merely the plaintiff who filed the lawsuit.
There have been other investigations around the country involving professional sports teams, with settlements in tow. The DOL recently announced an investigation into an allegation that interns with the Miami Marlins and the San Francisco Giants are unpaid.
This past August, according to The Chronicle, the San Francisco Giants paid $544,000 in back wages to 74 employees of the team following a federal investigation into various violations to California state labor laws over a three-year period.
Beyond the public relations hit a major sports team may incur as the result of an investigation into wage infractions, is the possibility of a costly settlement that could see a team spending more money at the end of the day than it otherwise might have spent had the enterprise simply paid proper wages, and adhered to California labor code from the beginning.
To that end, the DOL has the authority to mandate the reimbursement of owed wages at twice the rate of wages illegally withheld. The federal minimum wage currently sits at $7.25 per hour. The minimum wage observed by the state of California is currently $8 per hour, but is set to rise to $9 per hour in July, in accordance with California prevailing wage law.