The Legal Efforts to Reclassify Student-Athletes as Employees Continues: What it Could Mean for Colleges and Universities Now and In the Future

The NLRB’s General Counsel has issued a memo asserting her belief that certain college athletes are employees based on her “prosecutorial” interpretation of the National Labor Relations Act. Her interpretation of the Act raises questions for colleges and universities surrounding the potential re-classification of their student athletes as employees. 

• Will the scholarships these “employees” are receiving from their schools because of their athletic prowess be considered income, subject to federal, state and local tax?
• In addition to becoming subject to potential collective bargaining agreements like professional athletes, are student-athletes going to enter into individual employment contracts with their universities that can be terminated, via release for poor performance or injury?
• Will student-athletes be willing to exercise their legal right to strike? If they do, what will happen to the status of their season if they are the only team to strike and they miss an extensive part of their season, especially for star players seeking to become professionals?

We will also examine a current federal lawsuit filed by student-athletes against fourteen universities seeking to change their classification of student-athletes to employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Despite prior similar cases, including Berger v. NCAA, which rejected the “employee” argument and concluded that the amateur status of college athletes prevented their classification as employees, the issue of student-athletes being reclassified as employees is being litigated once again.

Join Jackson Lewis P.C. attorneys as they discuss these questions, talk about what could be next, and what institutions can do to protect themselves and their student athletes.

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