Johnson v. Nat'l Collegiate Athletic Ass'n
| Decision Date | 22 September 2021 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL ACTION NO. 19-5230 |
| Citation | 561 F.Supp.3d 490 |
| Parties | Ralph "Trey" JOHNSON, et al., individually and on behalf of all persons similarly situated v. The NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION, et al. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
Paul L. McDonald, PL McDonald Law LLC, Philadelphia, PA, Michael J. Willemin, Renan F. Varghese, Taylor J. Crabill, Wigdor LLP, New York, NY, for Ralph "Trey" Johnson, Claudia Ruiz, Jacob Willebeek-Lemair, Nicholas Labella, Alexa Cooke, Stephanie Kerkeles.
Michael J. Willemin, Wigdor LLP, New York, NY, for Rhesa Foster, Esteban Suarez, Zachary Harris, Laura Hamilton, Matthew Schmidt, Liam Walsh, Gina Snyder, Tamara Schoen.
Alexandria M. Gilbert, Naveen Kabir, Sarah Kroll-Rosenbaum, Steven B. Katz, Constangy Brooks Smith & Prophete LLP, Los Angeles, CA, Donald S. Prophete, Contangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP, Kansas City, MO, John E. MacDonald, Constangy Brooks & Smith LLP, Lawrenceville, NJ, for The National Collegiate Athletic Association, Drexel University, Lafayette College, Villanova University, University of Pennsylvania.
Donald S. Prophete, Contangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP, Kansas City, MO, John E. MacDonald, Constangy Brooks & Smith LLP, Lawrenceville, NJ, Naveen Kabir, Sarah Kroll-Rosenbaum, Steven B. Katz, Constangy Brooks Smith & Prophete LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for Cornell University, Sacred Heart University, Fordham University.
Marla N. Presley, Jackson Lewis, P.C., Pittsburgh, PA, for University of Arizona.
Padova, District Judge Plaintiffs, student athletes at five of the Defendant colleges and universities, contend that student athletes who engage in NCAA Division 1 ("D1") interscholastic athletic activity for their colleges and universities are employees who should be paid for the time they spend related to those athletic activities. Plaintiffs, Ralph "Trey" Johnson, Stephanie Kerkeles, Nicholas Labella, Claudia Ruiz, Jacob Willebeek-Lemair, and Alexa Cooke, assert claims on behalf of themselves, a Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") collective, and three state classes against the colleges and universities they attend (or attended) (the "Attended Schools Defendants" or "ASD"), the National Collegiate Athletic Association ("NCAA"), twenty additional named D1 universities (the "Non Attended School Defendants" or "NASD"), and a putative Defendant class made up of 125 NCAA D1 colleges and universities. The First Amended Complaint ("Complaint") asserts claims for violations of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. § 200 et seq.; the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act, 43 Pa. Stat. § 333.101 et seq. (the "PMWA"); the New York Labor Law, N.Y. Lab. Law § 191 et seq. ("NYLL"); and the Connecticut Minimum Wage Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 31-58 et seq. ("CMWA"). The Complaint also asserts three common law unjust enrichment claims. The NCAA and NASD (together the "Moving Defendants") have moved to dismiss the Complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) on the ground that Plaintiffs lack standing to sue them under Article III because they are not joint employers of Plaintiffs. For the reasons that follow, the Motion is granted in part and denied in part.
The Complaint alleges the following facts. The NCAA is an association that regulates intercollegiate sports and has jurisdiction over approximately 1,100 schools and nearly 500,000 student athletes. (Compl. ¶¶ 44-45.) The NCAA has entered into multi-year, multi-billion-dollar contracts with broadcasters ESPN, CBS, and Turner Sports to show athletic competitions between NCAA D1 member schools, and it distributes shares of those broadcasting fees to its member schools. (Id. ¶ 14.) In addition to shares of those broadcasting fees, NCAA D1 member schools also receive fees from multi-year, multi-million-dollar agreements with television and radio networks that they have entered into, either individually or as part of an NCAA conference, to broadcast athletic competitions between NCAA D1 member schools. (Id. ¶ 15.)
The named Plaintiffs in this case are or were student athletes at Villanova University, Fordham University, Sacred Heart University, Cornell University, and Lafayette College. (Id. ¶¶ 19-24.) The NASD are: Bucknell University, Drexel University, Duquesne University, Fairleigh Dickinson University, La Salle University, Lehigh University, Monmouth University, Princeton University, Rider University, Robert Morris University, Seton Hall University, Saint Francis University, Saint Joseph's University, Saint Peter's University, the University of Delaware, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Pittsburgh, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, and Temple University. According to the Complaint, all of the Defendants jointly employed Plaintiffs and similarly situated persons. (Id. ¶ 26.)
Student athletes do not have the option to play NCAA sports for wages at any NCAA D1 school. (Id. ¶ 43.) All member schools in the NCAA have agreed not to pay students to participate in intercollegiate varsity sports. (Id. ¶ 51.) The NCAA's Bylaws prohibit schools from offering wages and prohibit student athletes from accepting wages. (Id. (citations omitted).) A student athlete who participates in NCAA sports can only receive payment based on athletic performance in limited circumstances connected with competing in the Olympics. (Id. ¶¶ 56-58 (citations omitted).)
NCAA D1 member schools require student athletes to participate in Countable Athletically Related Activities ("CARA"),1 which are recorded on timesheets under an NCAA D1 Bylaw. (Id. ¶ 93 (citation omitted).) NCAA Bylaws also require student athletes to participate in Required Athletically Related Activities like recruiting, fundraising and community service. (Id. ¶ 94.) A student athlete who fails to attend meetings, participate in practices, or participate in scheduled competitions can be disciplined, including suspension or dismissal from the team. (Id. ¶ 95 (citation omitted).) Student athletes have reported spending more than 30 hours per week on athletically related activities, both CARA and non-CARA, and football players who attend schools in the NCAA football bowl and championship subdivisions report spending more than 40 hours per week on these activities. (Id. ¶ 100.)
The NCAA D1 member schools exercise significant control over their student athletes. The NCAA Bylaws apply to all student athletes who participate in NCAA sports and they address "recruitment, eligibility, hours of participation, duration of eligibility and discipline." (Id. ¶ 170 (citation omitted).) Student athletes who participate in NCAA sports are supervised by coaching and training staff. (Id. ¶ 135 (citation omitted).) NCAA D1 member schools are required to have adult supervisors maintain timesheets for participants. (Id. ¶ 136 (citations omitted).) NCAA D1 member schools impose discipline on student athletes, including suspension and dismissal from a team, in instances of specified misconduct. (Id. ¶ 140 (citations omitted).) They also have handbooks that contain standards for controlling student athletes’ performance and conduct both on and off the field. (Id. ¶¶ 139-41 (citations omitted).) These handbooks contain rules regarding agents, prohibiting certain categories of legal gambling, and restricting social media use, including restrictions on making derogatory comments about other teams. (Id. ¶ 141 (citation omitted).) NCAA D1 member schools also have NCAA team policies that restrict the legal consumption of alcohol and legal use of nicotine products by student athletes. (Id. ¶ 143.)
Based upon these factual allegations, the Complaint asserts that Plaintiffs are the employees of Defendants, including the NCAA and NASD, and it asserts eight claims for relief, seeking payment of wages for the time Plaintiffs spent engaged in activities connected to NCAA sports. Count I asserts claims pursuant to the FLSA on behalf of Plaintiffs and the proposed FLSA collective against all Defendants and the proposed Defendant class for failure to pay them minimum wages as employees. Plaintiffs and the members of the proposed FLSA Collective seek unpaid minimum wages, an equal amount as liquidated damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs in connection with Count I. Count II asserts claims on behalf of Plaintiffs Johnson and Cooke and the proposed Pennsylvania class against fourteen colleges and universities located in Pennsylvania (the "Pennsylvania-based Defendants"2 ) for violating the PMWA by failing to pay them minimum wages for the hours they spent on activities relating to NCAA D1 sports. Plaintiffs Johnson, Cooke, and the proposed Pennsylvania class seek unpaid wages, attorneys’ fees, and costs in connection with Count II. Count III asserts a claim for unjust enrichment on behalf of Plaintiffs Johnson, Cooke, and the proposed Pennsylvania class against the Pennsylvania-based Defendants for benefiting from the unpaid labor of Plaintiffs Johnson, Cooke, and the proposed Pennsylvania class. Plaintiffs Johnson, Cooke, and the proposed Pennsylvania class seek judgment in an amount equal to the benefits unjustly retained by the Pennsylvania-based Defendants in connection with Count III.
Count IV asserts a claim on behalf of Plaintiffs Kerkeles, Labella, Willebeek-Lemair, and the proposed New York class against eighteen colleges and universities located in New York (the "New York-based Defendants"3 ) for failure to pay them minimum wages under the NYLL. Plaintiffs Kerkeles, Labella, Willebeek-Lemair, and the proposed New York class seek recovery of unpaid wages, liquidated damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs in connection with Count IV. Count V asserts a claim on behalf of Plaintiffs Kerkeles, Labella, Willebeek-Lemair, and the proposed New York class against the New York-based Defendants for failure to pay them wages for all of the hours they spent on NCAA D1 sports in violation of the NYLL. Plaintiffs Kerkeles, Labella,...
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