College Athletes Who Want to Get Paid Urge Judge to Reject NCAA’s Plea to Toss Lawsuit

NCAA College Athlete Wages Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: College athletes filed a class action lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and college universities. 
• Why: Plaintiffs claim that as NCAA student athletes they are owed minimum wage.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Pennsylvania federal court

College athletes who say they should at least be paid minimum wage have urged a judge not to allow the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) another chance at dismissing their lawsuit against it. 

In a memorandum filed Jan. 24 in a Pennsylvania federal court, the college athletes, who are suing the NCAA and various Division 2 colleges for their right to be paid minimum wage, said the NCAA already had its chance to dismiss their arguments and failed when a judge denied its request for an interlocutory appeal in December 2021.

“This Court should deny the motion without considering the merits of the NCAA’s arguments, which, in any case, amount to no more than a rehashing of arguments it originally failed to develop fully,” the students said.

The athletes said the NCAA shouldn’t be granted a “second bite at the apple,” having already had ample opportunity to raise new arguments.

Class Action Contends College Athletes Should Be Paid Minimum Wage

Lead plaintiff and former Villanova football player Ralph “Trey” Johnson filed the class action lawsuit back in 2019, alleging NCAA student athletes counted as employees and were consequently owed minimum wage under Pennsylvania law and the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Johnson and a group of current and former college athletes, who together later filed an amended complaint that added claims under New York and Connecticut laws, have a bid pending for collective certification for what will ultimately be 170,000 class members. 

In September last year, a judge ruled that the athletes had “plausibly alleged” that the NCAA could be classed as their “joint employer.”

The judge said he used the four-part “Enterprise test” to determine whether or not the defendants could constitute as joint employers and highlighted that the NCAA was able to suspend or fire athletes for failing to comply with certain bylaws it set. 

Do you think college athletes should be paid? Let us know in the comments! 

The athletes are represented by Paul L. McDonald of PL McDonald Law LLC and Michael J. Willemin and Renan F. Varghese of Wigdor LLP. 

The NCAA College Athlete Wages Class Action Lawsuit is Ralph Johnson, et al. v. The National Collegiate Athletic Association, et al., Case No. 2:19-cv-05230, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

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