Court ruling seeks test to decide if athletes are employees

[NT80]

The court, in the latest challenge to the NCAA's long-held notion of "amateurism" in college sports, said that a test should be developed to differentiate between students who play college sports for fun and those whose effort "crosses the legal line into work."

"With professional athletes as the clearest indicators, playing sports can certainly constitute compensable work," U.S. Circuit Judge L. Felipe Restrepo wrote. "Ultimately, the touchstone remains whether the cumulative circumstances of the relationship between the athlete and college or NCAA reveal an economic reality that is that of an employee-employer."

A colleague, in a concurring opinion, questioned the difficulty of such a process, noting that nearly 200,000 students compete on nearly 6,700 Division I teams. The NCAA had hoped to have the case dismissed, but it will instead go back to the trial judge for fact finding.

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/40541501/court-ruling-seeks-test-decide-athletes-employees

 

[gangrene]

If athletes are deemed to be employees of a university, I wonder if state/public universities would be required to publish their NIL salaries while private universities would be exempt?  That would be an interesting dilemma that could seemingly benefit schools like Notre Dame, USC and Miami.

[SUMG]

University employees should now sue.........claiming that they are "athletes." That way, they could get all the perks that athletes get (free education, free housing, food, stipend, great health care). I'm sure those guys at the Physical Plant could use a good trainer, after a day of hard work. 

[Tom McKrackin]

6 minutes ago, SUMG said:

University employees should now sue.........claiming that they are "athletes." That way, they could get all the perks that athletes get (free education, free housing, food, stipend, great health care). I'm sure those guys at the Physical Plant could use a good trainer, after a day of hard work. 

[UNTLifer]

57 minutes ago, SUMG said:

University employees should now sue.........claiming that they are "athletes." That way, they could get all the perks that athletes get (free education, free housing, food, stipend, great health care). I'm sure those guys at the Physical Plant could use a good trainer, after a day of hard work. 

Yep.  They have created a giant mess with no end in sight.

[greenjoe]

The good news is that no “athlete-employees” can hang around long enough to get vested for the pension.

[NorthTexasWeLove]

3 hours ago, greenjoe said:

The good news is that no “athlete-employees” can hang around long enough to get vested for the pension.

That's only a matter of time. Pro sports have it, pro college sports will have it, too. The courts want their cake and they want to eat it. And if you think common sense and logic is going to undermine our narcissistic judiciary system, they'll go further. It's who they are. People who have gotten what they have wanted their entire lives and will now use our system to plug and play. 

[NT80]

If it's an employee/employer relationship, then kill the scholarships.   Pay them a salary to play (similar to scholarship rate), with the requirement to maintain minimum school hours and grades.  Athletes can deduct the cost of education from their salary...books, room, meals, insurance, tutoring, etc....like normal students.   So what has changed?  Nothing.

Next up will be band members and cheerleaders wanting similar.