LOS ANGELES — Even though it appears that the Oakland Raiderettes, the Oakland Raiders’ cheerleaders, and the Oakland Raiders have reached a proposed $1.25 million agreement in a class action wage and overtime lawsuit, another Raiderette has brought a separate claim against the team recently. The National Football League (NFL) and its individual teams have slowly been settling the numerous wage and overtime lawsuits with their cheerleaders. Many of the teams have changed their compensation policies and have begun paying their cheerleaders minimum wage for all of the hours they work.
The New Cheerleader Claim
Susie Sanchez, a Raiderette, filed the latest lawsuit at the end of January 2015. Sanchez’s lawsuit proposes to include Raiderettes who have worked for the team in the last four years. Her claim includes allegations of wage and overtime theft, as well as allegations that the team interfered with and denied the cheerleaders opportunities for further media exposure. According to her claim, the cheerleaders contracts included promised additional media opportunities, but the team allegedly denied those opportunities if it deemed the media exposure to either be contrary to or not in the direction the team wanted its publicity to go. In Sanchez’s case, she claims she was offered an opportunity to participate in a proposed Lifetime network program, until the Raiders decided that the program would not benefit the team.
The Original Claim
The Raiderettes’, as well as the cheerleaders for other NFL teams, claimed they were paid significantly less than minimum wage and were not paid any overtime pay for their work before, during and after the regular football season. They additionally claimed they were not compensated for the media obligations like calendar photo shoots, charity events, and other team-related benefits. On top of failing to pay the cheerleaders for all of the hours they worked, the cheerleaders were not reimbursed for worked-related expenses like makeup, tanning sessions, and other activities related to maintaining the cheerleaders’ appearance to the team’s standards.
Settling Overtime Claims
Despite the fact that the team and the cheerleaders appear close to settling the initial lawsuit for $1.25 million, some of the cheerleaders included in the lawsuit have said they would appeal the decision. Some of the cheerleaders believe the settlement is far lower than what the cheerleaders are entitled to and will be seeking another $2 million in unpaid wages. Class members who receive settlement offers are not required to accept the offer. They are allowed to object to the settlement, appeal the settlement, or reject the settlement entirely. Any of these options would allow the class member to continue their claim, but would typically mean that the class member will not share in the offered settlement amount.
If you have questions about a proposed settlement or about a potential overtime claim, contact our team of overtime pay lawyers today. Our knowledgeable legal team can be reached at (855) 754-2795 or through our Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form. If we accept your case, we will represent you under our No Fee Promise. This means there are no legal fees or costs unless you receive a settlement.