Wage suit hit with setback in court
Dispute about pay fairness can go ahead with 43 claims — but not as class action
The former minor-league players suing Major League Baseball for allegedly failing to pay them minimum wage suffered a setback with a California court ruling that their case cannot move forward as a class action.
Last fall the case — known as Aaron Senne et al. vs. The Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball et al. — had been certified as a class action on a preliminary basis, and more than 2,300 former players signed on to join the suit.
But Joseph C. Spero, a chief magistrate judge in the Northern District of California, ruled Thursday that since there was “wide variation” in the players’ required off-season work from organization to organization, as well as some differences in compensatory benefits, it would be unfair to the league to fight all the cases at once.
The case is still going ahead, but now it will only be with the 43 original named plaintiffs, said Garrett Broshuis, the lawyer behind the case and a former minor leaguer himself.
“This is a procedural decision. It doesn’t go to the merits of our actual claims about whether they’re breaking minimum-wage and overtime laws,” Broshuis said Monday. “We continue to believe there is enough cohesiveness (between the players’ cases). They’re all subject to the same uniform contract and the same uniform pay practices.”
High draft picks receive one-time signing bonuses of six and seven figures, but thousands sign for $10,000 or less, leaving them with annual incomes that put them below the U.S. poverty line.
Minor-league players, who are not unionized, are required to sign uniform seven-year contracts once they are drafted. Depending on the level at which they play and years of service, most make between $800 and $2,500 per month (U.S.), which their lawsuit contends amounts to less than the U.S. federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
They are not paid for the roughly six weeks of mandatory spring training, post-season instructional leagues, nor any off-season conditioning. They also do not receive overtime pay despite often working 60 to 70 hours in a typical week.
High draft picks receive one-time signing bonuses of six and seven figures, but thousands sign for $10,000 or less, leaving them with annual incomes that put them below the U.S. poverty line.
Broshuis said Monday he was still working through the 104-page decision and considering all options, including the possibility of an appeal.
“We felt like we had met the required standards,” he said. “Across the board minor leaguers are subjected to the same pay package and are signing the same oppressive contracts that require them to perform work throughout the year but only pay them during the season, while binding them to the organization for seven years. We thought that those overarching pay practices would meet the requirements.”
While Major League Baseball will still have to fight the case against the originally named plaintiffs, winning Thursday’s decision dramatically reduces their potential liability if they happen to lose the case. If the former players are successful, however, it could lead to a slew of new claims.
The trial is expected to start sometime next year.