The fast-changing world of college athletics is about to collide with the ever-changing doctrine of joint employment.
In January 2022, on behalf of football and basketball athletes at the University of Southern California (USC), the National College Players Association (NCPA) filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against USC, the Pac-12, and the NCAA. In the charge, the NCPA argued that college athletes should be considered employees and not student-athletes. On December 15, 2022, the NLRB’s Los Angeles Region agreed. NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo said in a statement that USC, the Pac-12, and the NCAA have together “maintained unlawful rules and unlawfully misclassified scholarship basketball and football players as mere ‘student-athletes’ rather than employees entitled to protection under our law.” In September 2021, Abruzzo issued a memo (GC 21-08) making clear that some college athletes should be considered employees.
Read the full article on Jackson Lewis’ Collegiate & Professional Sports Law Blog.