https://theathletic.com/3188098/2022/03/15/judge-rules-minor-league-players-are-mlb-employees-throughout-year-and-are-owed-damages/A federal judge has ruled that minor league players are considered employees throughout the calendar year and that Major League Baseball is a joint employer, giving victories to the plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit that’s set to go to trial in June.
In his 181-page summary judgment motion, judge Joseph Spero of the Northern District of California also found that the plaintiffs performed “work” during spring training in Arizona and Florida, and that travel time on team buses to away games during spring training and in California during the regular season is compensable under law. The case, Senne vs. Major League Baseball, is a lawsuit brought forth by minor-league players in 2014 over player pay under various wage laws, including those in Florida and Arizona.
A trial is set to begin June 1, and the plaintiffs have already been awarded some damages. Spero ruled that plaintiffs are entitled to $1,882,650 in penalties on a California claim, and that they’re owed money on an Arizona claim as well, but that the amount would have to be determined at trial.
The judge’s finding that MLB is a joint employer along with clubs exposes not only individual teams to the lawsuit, but the central office itself.
this is going to have huge repercussions if this does not get overturned on appeal (perhaps as big as the NCAA ruling by SCOTUS in regards to student athletes)