Underpaying people in the NFL is an American tradition. Yeah, there are millionaire contracts—but they aren’t guaranteed contracts, which defeats most of the purpose of a contract, and the amount of money being generated by football (television contracts, merchandizing, etc.) is a pie much larger than what is paid to everyone from those on the field to those feeding the people in the stands. Underpaying cheerleaders is as American as apple pie.
Another NFL team is facing a class action lawsuit for wage theft brought by one of its cheerleaders. A lawsuit was filed today by Krystal C in New Jersey state court against the New York Jets on behalf of their cheerleaders. The complaint [Krystal C v. New York Jets LLC] seeks monetary damages on behalf of all of the “Flight Crew,” as the Jet’s cheerleading team is called. The case is the fourth lawsuit challenging the decades old NFL wide practice of underpaying cheerleaders, in clear violation of law.
“The claims against the Jets are essentially the same as those brought against the Raiders, the Bengals and the Buffalo Bills,” said Patricia Pierce of Greenblatt, Pierce, Engle, Funt & Flores, one of the law firms representing the cheerleaders. “The failure to pay the women who work as cheerleaders a legal wage for all of the hours that they work is clearly an NFL-wide problem that needs to change,” said Pierce.
How crap were the wages the Jets paid? Pretty brutal.
The cheerleader's attorney, Patricia Pierce, used the rates for games and special events to arguethat the actual hourly pay was well below the minimum wage.
"When you look at the actual hours worked versus what Krystal was paid, she only made $3.77 per hour," Pierce said. "When you factor in the required hair, makeup and transportation expenses, the hourly rate goes below $1.50 an hour."
It was a matter of time before the Jets would have to pay up because the evidence was obvious and the PR disaster, since gender inequality in the workplace is talked about more and more.
The Record newspaper reports the women will receive $2,559 to $5,913 each, depending upon whether they worked one or both of the 2012 and 2013 seasons and whether they took part in calendar photo shoots.
The range is based on how many years the women worked (1 or 2). Those numbers don’t seem big, but there are additional compensations.
The final amount will include interest and will depend on how many football seasons they worked. If a cheerleader participated in photo shoots, she could receive up to $400 per shoot.
This is a meaningful settlement. The women weren’t asking to own the football team; they were asking to be compensated for the services they provided. The only reasons they were not is because a) the NFL is a bad employer, and b) sexism.