Raiderette wages lawsuit prompts Labor Dept. investigation
Bob Egelko
SFGate.com
January 30, 2014
The U.S. Department of Labor says it is investigating the Oakland Raiders’ treatment of the Raiderettes, after one of its cheerleaders accused the team in a lawsuit of failing to pay minimum wages and illegally saddling the squad with fines and travel expenses.
Jose Carnevali, spokesman for the Labor Department’s regional office in San Francisco, confirmed the investigation Wednesday and said it concerned “the team’s cheerleader squad,” and not merely the individual who filed the suit last week.
“Because this is currently an open case, the department cannot provide further information about the case at this moment,” he said.
The cheerleader, Lacy T., filed her suit in Alameda County Superior Court as a proposed class action on behalf of the 40 Raiderettes and other members of the squad over the past four years. Her lawyer, Sharon Vinick, said Thursday that she was encouraged by the federal government’s prompt action.
“I would hope that the Department of Labor would be looking at teams across the NFL,” Vinick said. Similar allegations of low wages and unpaid expenses have been made against several other National Football League teams, but Lacy T. is the first to file suit.
The Raiders did not respond to a request for comment.
The Labor Department has the authority to assess penalties against employers for violating the federal government’s $7.25-an-hour minimum wage law and other labor laws. It can order an employer to pay its workers twice the amount of wages that were illegally withheld.
In August, the San Francisco Giants paid $544,000 in back wages to 74 employees after a Labor Department investigation found wage violations over a three-year period. The department has also announced an investigation into the use of unpaid interns by the Giants and a second major league baseball team, the Miami Marlins.
Employers facing a Labor Department investigation have a strong incentive to reach a settlement for back-wage payments, particularly an image-conscious employer like a pro sports team, said Ken Jacobs, chairman of the Center for Labor Research and Education at UC Berkeley.
“This doesn’t reflect well,” he said. “I can imagine that this would be something (the Raiders) would want to resolve. … If this practice is common for the other teams, you might very well see other investigations.”
The Raiders pay their cheerleaders $1,250 for a season of 10 home games. Lacy T.’s lawsuit said their wages amount to less than $5 an hour – below the state’s $8 minimum wage – counting the hours of unpaid work they are required to perform at rehearsals, 10 charity events per season and the team’s annual swimsuit calendar photo session.
The suit also accused the Raiders of violating California law by requiring the Raiderettes to pay all costs of travel, team-mandated cosmetics and other items; by fining them for such offenses as bringing the wrong pom-poms to practice; by withholding their pay until the end of the season instead of paying them at least twice a month; and by prohibiting them, in their work contracts, from discussing their pay with each other.
Lacy T., 28, of Alameda said she is a “stay-at-home mom” who joined the Raiderettes in 2013 after two years with the Golden State Warriors’ dance team, which paid its members for all work hours and expenses. The lawsuit withholds her last name in accord with a Raiders’ security policy.
