The fast-changing world of college athletics is about to collide with the ever-changing doctrine of joint employment.
In January 2022, on behalf of football and basketball athletes at the University of Southern California (USC), the National College Players Association (NCPA) filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against USC…
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to change the standard for determining if two employers may be joint employers under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The proposed rule, expected to become effective sometime in 2023, could make it more likely that professional and collegiate leagues would be…
Ongoing efforts to urge the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to classify student-athletes as employees continue with the latest unfair labor charge filed by the National College Players Association (NCPA) and their Executive Director Ramogi Huma. The unfair labor practice charge alleges that the NCAA, the Pac-12 Conference, and University of Southern California (USC) and…
Unable to find a student-athlete willing to file an unfair labor practice charge to support the effort of the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to reclassify student-athletes as “employees” as defined in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), Michael Hsu, co-founder of the recently formed college basketball player advocacy group, the…
The on-and-off effort at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to classify “student-athletes” as “employees” has renewed. Although the National Labor Relations Act contains no formal recognition of student-athletes as employees, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memorandum on September 28, 2021 (GC 21-08) asserting
“her prosecutorial position” that certain players at academic institutions
…
A group of Democratic U.S. Senators, led by Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) have introduced the College Athlete Right to Organize Act. The proposed legislation would amend the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and provide student-athletes collective bargaining rights, regardless of any existing state law restrictions.
Regarding his proposed legislation,…
Russell Okung, a current NFL player and member of the National Football League Players Association’s (NFLPA) executive committee, has filed an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), alleging the union has threatened retaliation against its own members and violated its own constitution by forcing a full-member ratification vote of…
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), in a recent Advice Memorandum (NLRB Case No. 13-CA-157467), has effectively ended the closely-watched enforcement action against Northwestern University on whether certain intercollegiate student-athletes are statutory employees for purposes of the National Labor Relations Act.
The NLRB had declined in August 2015 to assert jurisdiction over a representation petition…
Concluding that its assertion of jurisdiction “would not serve to promote stability in labor relations,” the National Labor Relations Board has declined to exercise authority over the College Athletes Players Association’s (CAPA’s) petition to represent scholarship football players at Northwestern University. Northwestern University, 362 NLRB No. 167 (Aug. 17, 2015). Without deciding if the…
The National Labor Relations Board has declined to assert jurisdiction in the case involving Northwestern University football players who receive grant-in-aid scholarships. As a result, the Board did not determine if the players were employees under the National Labor Relations Act. Instead, the Board exercised its discretion not to assert jurisdiction and dismissed the representation …
