What is new about this case and the other cases around the league?
• Four more Ben-Gals cheerleaders recently have joined Alexa Brenneman’s suit alleging a violation of federal wage laws. The other cases have similar allegations.
Why does this case matter
• Some cheerleaders involved in the suits claim the NFL’s poor record of punishment for domestic abuse is part of a pattern that includes cheerleaders working long hours for less than minimum wage for a league that brings in billions of dollars in revenue.
What has the NFL said about the lawsuits?
• The NFL has taken no official stance regarding the lawsuits, contending that they are issues between the individual teams and the cheer squads, and do not involve the league office.
Four more former Ben-Gal cheerleaders have joined a federal lawsuit alleging the Cincinnati Bengals failed to pay minimum wages to their cheerleaders. The move comes about a month after the Oakland Raiders settled a similar suit for $1.25 million brought by about 90 former Raiderettes.
Former Ben-Gal Alexa Brenneman of Springboro filed the class action civil suit in U.S. District Court in February that she was effectively paid $2.85 an hour — a violation of federal minimum wage laws — during her more than 300 hours working for the Bengals from May 2013 to January 2014.
Court documents show that Catherine Hartman, Toney Keiser, Chelsey Thompson and Britney Thompson have opted into the suit.
“The process just started,” said Todd Naylor, one of Brenneman’s attorneys. “Those are the first ones that opted in, but yeah, we expect more.”
Online professional profiles state Hartman was a Ben-Gal from May 2010 to May 2013 while Keiser cheered from May 2011 to May 2013. Britney Thompson was a Ben-Gal in 2011 and 2012 while Chelsey Thompson cheered from 2011 through 2013, Naylor said.
Brenneman, a 2008 graduate of Springboro High School, alleges that though the cheerleaders are paid $90 per home game, their compensation is well below Ohio’s minimum wage of $7.85 an hour when factoring in mandatory practices and 10 “charity” appearances. Practices were mandatory even during weeks when there were no home games.
Qualifying former Ben-Gals can opt-in to the lawsuit during a 60-day period. Naylor said opting in may not be necessary, depending on the expected ruling this month of a motion by U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett.
“We also have the issue of whether they are even required to opt in at all,” Naylor said. “He’s deciding a motion the Bengals filed that seeks to make it opt-in. We’re pursuing it as an opt-out.”
Similar lawsuits are pending brought by cheerleaders of the New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Buffalo Bills, whose Jills cheer squad was disbanded before the current NFL season started. The Raiders, whose payment averages about $6,000 per Raiderette for each season from 2010 to 2012 and less for 2013, when the team upped pay for cheerleaders.
“There’s always been a lot of discussion within the squad and other cheerleaders as well,” Brenneman told the Dayton Daily News in February. “We respect our craft and what we do and it is a job and we want to be respected as athletes. Currently, we’re not making minimum wage.”
The Bengals re-released a statement from February this week in response to four women who joined the lawsuit: “The Ben-Gals cheerleading program has long been a program run by former cheerleaders, and has enjoyed broad support in the community and by members of the squad. The lawsuit appears to be a copycat lawsuit that mimics the one filed … in California against a different NFL club. The Bengals will address the litigation in due course.”
Brenneman, a fitness instructor who attended the University of Cincinnati, was featured in the 2013-14 Ben-Gals calendar in a swimsuit she had to buy herself. The suit says the Bengals organization keeps the money from sales or promotional appearances, and quotes a 2003 Forbes Magazine article that estimated the revenue generated by a cheerleader squad such as the Ben-Gals amounts to “just over $1 million.”
Brenneman said some NBA and NHL teams she’s spoken to pay their cheerleaders at least $10 per hour for their work.
The Ben-Gal rules specify that if cheerleaders miss practices, they will be forced to sit out games, which eliminates their game check. The suit said Brenneman missed one game due to a funeral and was not paid anything for that week.
Naylor thinks other cheerleaders will opt in. “We expect more to follow,” he said. “We have a very strong case, I believe, and I think we will prevail.”
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