Minor league players, MLB settle minimum wage suit

Minor league players and Major League Baseball have reached a settlement in a lawsuit alleging teams violated minimum wage laws.

Terms of the settlement were not filed with the court Tuesday and details were not released.

“We are pleased to report that the parties have reached a settlement in principle in this over eight-year-old case, subject to court approval,“lawyers for the players said in a statement. “We look forward to filing prelimi- nary approval papers with the court and cannot comment further until then.”

The suit was filed in 2014 by first baseman/outfielder Aaron Senne, a 10th-round pick of the Marlins in 2009 who retired in 2013, and two other retired players who had been lower-round selections: Kansas City infielder Michael Liberto and San

Francisco pitcher Oliver Odle. They claimed vio- lations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and state minimum wage and overtime requirements for a work week they estimated at 50 to 60 hours.

A trial had been scheduled to start June 1 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. A letter filed with the court by lawyers for both sides asked Chief Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero to postpone a conference scheduled for Tuesday and the trial.

“The parties are pleased to inform the court that they have reached a settlement of the matter in principle,” the letter said. “The parties have agreed upon a confi- dential memorandum of understanding. The settle- ment is subject to ratifica- tion by the respective par- ties, and we are in the process of preparing the settle- ment documents.“

The letter was signed by Elise M. Bloom of Proskauer Rose on behalf of MLB and by Clifford H. Pearson of Pearson, Simon & Warshaw and Stephen M. Tillery of Korein Tillery on behalf of the players.

Spero wrote in a pretrial ruling in March that minor leaguers are yearround employees who work during training time and found MLB violated Arizona’s state minimum wage law and was liable for triple damages. Spero also ruled MLB did not comply with California wage statement requirements, awarding $1,882,650 in penalties.

He said minor leaguers should be paid for travel time to road game s in the California League and to practice in Arizona and Florida.

“These are not students who have enrolled in a vocational school with the understanding that they would perform services, without compensation, as part of the practical training necessary to complete the training and obtain a license,” Spero wrote.