New York Jets Settle Wage Theft Suit with Cheerleaders

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Summary: The New York Jets has agreed to pay their cheerleaders $324,000 for wage theft.

Cheerleaders have always had a certain glamour to them, but all that glitters isn’t gold. Cheerleaders for the New York Jets, called The Flight Crew, sued the team in 2014 over wage theft, and this week the Jets agreed to pay them $324,000, the New York Daily News reports.

  

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In The Flight Crew lawsuit, they said they were paid $150 a game and were given uniforms, but that other expenses such as practice time and travel costs were not covered. After those deductions, the cheerleaders made less than minimum wage.

The final payout for each cheerleader will be approximately $2,559 to $5,913. The class action suit covers 52 women who were cheerleaders during the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

The Jets are the fourth team in the NFL to settle a similar claim, indicating that the poor wages to cheerleaders is an industry standard. Last year, New York State Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, Senator Diane Savino, and Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez published an open letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell asking for fair pay for cheerleaders.

Rozic and Savino also introduced legislation classifying cheerleaders as employees and not independent contractors.

The New York Post notes that the Jets are worth $2.6 billion and make $383 million a year.

Source: New York Daily News

Photo courtesy of New York Jets