A federal district court in California has weighed in on the question of whether student-athletes are employees for the purposes of minimum wage and overtime laws. And, like the courts before it, it has rejected that notion.
In Dawson v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, No. 16-cv-05487-RS (N.D. Ca. April 25, 2017), the United States District Court for the Northern District of California has joined the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and other courts in holding that athletes are not employees entitled to minimum wage and overtime time pay.
In Dawson, a former college football player for the University of Southern California filed a putative class action against the NCAA and the associated conference, claiming he was denied full pay for all hours worked, including overtime. Rather than applying the four factor “economic reality” test that the Ninth Circuit has adopted, the district court focused on the “true nature of the relationship.” Borrowing from the Seventh Circuit’s reasoning in Berger v. Nat’l Collegiate Athletic Ass’n, 843 F.3d 285 (7th Cir. 2016), the court concluded that “student athletic ‘play’ is not ‘work,’ at least as that term is used in the FLSA.”
The court rejected the Plaintiff’s argument that the situation differed from Berger because the students in that case were track and field athletes, while the Dawson athletes played Division I football, which generates massive revenue for schools. The court noted that Plaintiff cited no authority to support this distinction.
The court also relied on the U.S. Department of Labor’s Field Operations Handbook, which indicates that students who participate in extracurricular activities generally are not employees of the school, distinguishing them from work-study students who typically are considered employees. The court drew a distinction between sports and work-study programs, labelling the latter as programs that benefit the school. Conversely, the court felt that football exists for the benefit of the student and only in limited circumstances, for the benefit of the school.
Thus, one federal court in California has joined the parade of courts that have rejected the concept of student athletes being employees of the schools where they are engaged in sports. The issue is likely to be appealed to the Ninth Circuit. And only time will tell whether the Ninth Circuit will confirm this result or whether it will conclude that student-athletes in fact are employees.