LAST year, we discussed the lawsuit filed by the Raiderettes, the cheer squad for the Oakland Raiders, who sued their employer for back wages and reimbursements. The lawsuit claimed that the employer withheld pay from the employees until after the football season ended and did not pay for hours worked outside the games. The cheerleaders allegedly pay for many items related to their work such as hairstyling, makeup, travelling, and photo shoots, which were controlled by the employer.
Rather than go to trial, the employer recently settled with the employees, and agreed to pay a total of $1.25 million to resolve their claims. About 90 cheerleaders are expected to share in the settlement.
More importantly, as part of the settlement, the cheerleaders are now considered employees, who will be paid $9 an hour, are eligible for overtime pay, and will be reimbursed for business expenses and mileage. In compliance with state law, they will be paid every two weeks rather than in one lump sum at the end of the season. The employer will no longer illegally deduct wages for them showing up a few minutes late to rehearsals, wearing the wrong nail polish color or bringing the wrong pom-poms to practice. Cheerleaders will also be entitled to a 10-minute break during games.
Employment violations victimize workers regardless of who they are in life and what industry they work in. Some violations are obvious such as employer refusals to pay minimum wage or overtime. Some violations are not so obvious. The following are additional situations when wage theft are likely occurring:
1) Manipulating timekeeping devices to reflect only the hours that employees are scheduled to work and ignoring any preliminary or postliminary work-related activities such as preparing their tools before clocking in, or making reports after clocking out.
2) Misclassifying employees as independent contractors in order to deprive them of minimum wage, and overtime pay, among other things.
3) Paying piece rate employees the incorrect overtime rate even though they are made to work more than 8 hours per day.
4) Rounding down work hours. For example, if the employee clocked out at 5:15pm, the employer may round this down to 5:00pm, disregarding the extra 15 minutes of overtime worked. Fifteen minutes may not be a lot, but if it happens several days a week for years, the employee may be owed significant back wages.
5) Not providing meal or rest breaks to employees, not providing them an opportunity to take breaks, not providing relievers, or interrupting employees during their breaks – these are all against the law and entitle employees to additional wages.
There may be other situations where wage theft occurs. Workers who feel they are not compensated correctly would be wise to consult with a knowledgeable employment attorney.
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The Law Offices of C. Joe Sayas, Jr. welcomes inquiries about this topic. All inquiries are confidential and at no-cost. Atty. Sayas’ Law Office is located at 500 N. Brand Blvd. Suite 980, Glendale, CA 91203. You can contact the office at (818) 291-0088 or visit www.joesayaslaw.com.
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C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. is trial attorney who has obtained several million dollar recoveries for his clients against employers and insurance companies. He has been selected as a Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine, featured in the cover of Los Angeles Daily Journal’s Verdicts and Settlements, and is a member of the Million Dollar-Advocates Forum.