Minor League Players Class Action Lawsuit Claims They Were Underpaid, Argue MLB Is Too Late to Request Dismissal of Expert Testimony

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Minor League Baseball Salary Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: A Class of minor league baseball players have asked a California court to disregard Major League Baseball’s request to exclude testimony from their expert witnesses.
• Why: Players claim it is too late in the litigation to be filing those types of motions, calling it “improper.”
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.

Minor league baseball players who claim they were underpaid by Major League Baseball (MLB) have asked a California court to disregard the league’s request to exclude their damage witnesses testimony. 

MLB argued in October that a 2016 survey compiled by J. Michael Dennis regarding hours worked by the ballplayers was error-filled and should not be permitted. 

In addition to claiming Dennis’ survey was filled with flawed data, the league also questioned his credentials, according to the player’s motion. 

The survey was meant to strengthen damage calculations made on behalf of the minor league ballplayers by Brian Kriegler, which the sport’s governing body also asked to be excluded. 

Players, meanwhile, argue the league’s efforts to exclude the testimonies through three different motions are “improper.” 

“Defendants have improperly filed three separate Daubert motions directed at Plaintiffs’ experts, in violation of the Court’s order requiring the filing of a single combined Daubert motion absent leave of court,” the motion states. 

Players also asked the court to dismiss efforts from MLB survey expert Eugene Erickson, who filed a declaration on behalf of the league that the minor league players say is actually an “improper” and “late-filled” rebuttal report.

“Regardless of the new moniker, the new Ericksen report is clearly a rebuttal aimed at Dr. Dennis final report and main survey,” players say. 

Players alleged in a 2014 class action lawsuit that MLB underpaid them during the regular season and didn’t pay them at all during training camps in the spring and fall. 

Last month, players cited a tweet by New York Mets owner Steve Cohen in which he wrote players were worth “up to 5x their slot value” to teams that drafted them, in an attempt to strengthen their claims. 

Do you agree with the minor leaguers’ claims of being underpaid by the MLB? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Stephen Tillery, Garrett Broshuis and Jamie Boyer of Korein Tillery LLC and Clifford Pearson, Daniel Warshaw, Bobby Pouya, Thomas Nolan and Benjamin Shiftan of Pearson Simon & Warshaw LLP.

The Minor League Baseball Salary Class Action Lawsuit is Senne, et al. v. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, et al., Case No. 3:14-cv-00608, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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