MLB Strikes Out Seeking Minor-League Wage-and-Hour Suit Dismissal

The average Major League Baseball salary in 2015 was $4.2 million. Assuming that major-league players work (generously) 10 hours per day, six days per week for nine months (February through October), they earn, on average, $1,795 per hour—well in excess of the $7.25 per hour minimum wage prescribed by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

November 10, 2015 at 07:36 PM

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Some minor-league players, on the other hand, earn as little as $3,000 per year despite, according to a class action wage-and-hour suit filed in the Northern District of California, working between 50-70 hours per week. In addition to the five-month minor-league season (the only time they are paid), the minor-league players are required to work in the off-season, as well as during spring training—all of which puts them well below the FLSA minimum wage and deprives them of overtime pay.

SALARIES AS LOW AS $3K/YEAR

In its recent decision in Senne v. Kansas City Royals Baseball, No. 14-cv-00608-JCS (N. D. Cal., Oct. 20, 2015), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted conditional certification to a class of all minor-league players who worked for Major League Baseball since February 2011 but who had not spent any time in the major leagues. The allegations are, as noted, that most of the (roughly 6,000) minor-league players gross only $3,000 to $7,500 over their five-month season, which is the only time during the year that they are paid. Although they work between 50 and 70 hours per week, arriving in the early afternoon and leaving sometimes as late as 11 p.m., with extensive work-related travel, they are not paid overtime, the plaintiffs alleged. Further, according to the complaint, the players work year-round, including mandatory attendance at spring training, instructional leagues and winter baseball. Plus, the players are expected to follow team-prescribed exercise regimens during the off-season without any compensation.

It is important to note that the merits of the case and whether the players are even “employees” under the FLSA (or whether they should be considered as “amusement or recreational establishment” workers) was not considered in the court's conditional certification decision. Rather, the court focused on whether potential opt-ins are similarly situated to the representative plaintiffs “for the sole purpose of sending notice of the action to potential class members.” At this early stage, the plaintiffs are required to show only that there is a “reasonable basis for their claim of class-wide conduct.”