Last week, an Indiana federal court dismissed a lawsuit brought by former University of Pennsylvania (“Penn”) athletes against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) and a number of its member schools over their alleged employment status and corresponding minimum wage protection under the FLSA. Berger, et al. v. NCAA, et al., S.D. Ind., No. 1:14-CV-01710,
volunteer
“Yelping” Does Not Entitle You To Minimum Wage
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Coverage
Another Court has joined those holding providers of content to online portals are not employees within the meaning of wage-and-hour laws. Joining a decision from the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which rejected a claim brought by Huffington Post bloggers several years ago, Judge Richard Seeborg of the Northern District of California has…
Second Circuit: MLB “Fanfest” Properly Treated as Exempt Recreational Establishment
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Exemptions
Last year, Judge John G. Koeltl of the Southern District of New York ruled that individuals who served as volunteers at the 2013 Major League Baseball All Star Weekend FanFest, a four-day event centered around the All Star Game, were not entitled to minimum wage because they were “employed by an establishment which is…
New York Federal Court Holds Persons Performing Community Service To Avoid Criminal Prosecution Not “Employees” Entitled to Minimum Wage Under The FLSA
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Coverage, Minimum Wage
The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently revisited the Department of Labor’s four-part test for purposes of determining whether a person qualifies as a “public service volunteer.” In a new decision applying the Second Circuit’s fact-intensive standard, Southern District of New York Judge Jesse M. Furman ruled in favor of the City of…
Origins of Wage-and-Hour Jurisprudence: Portland Terminal
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Uncategorized
Many current FLSA compensation issues which are the subject of widespread litigation – such as the current wave of intern cases – have their legal underpinnings in Supreme Court authority decided during the 1940s in the years following the enactment of the FLSA (1938) and the Portal-to-Portal Act (1947). For example, courts seeking to interpret…
Second Circuit Upholds Volunteer Finding Vis a Vis Former Student Turned School Aid
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Coverage
In December 2012, we discussed a lower court’s ruling that a young man who volunteered his time at his old high school working with at risk youths was not an “employee” within the meaning of the Fair Labor Standards Act entitled to minimum wage protection. On appeal, the Court of Appeals for the Second…
MLB All-Star Weekend Volunteers Not Employees Under FLSA
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Uncategorized
Judge John G. Koeltl from the Southern District of New York has dismissed the minimum wage claims of an individual who served as a volunteer at last year’s Major League Baseball All Star Weekend FanFest, held at New York City’s Javits Center, based on the “amusement or recreational establishment” exemption. Chen v. Major League …
Federal Appeals Court Affirms Ruling That Public Sector Union President Was “Volunteer” Outside Protection Of FLSA
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Uncategorized
Courts continue to wrestle with claims brought by individuals treated by businesses as outside the scope of the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime requirements. Many of these claims are asserted by individuals classified as volunteers and of course interns, all claiming to be employees entitled to the protections of the FLSA. In one such…
New York Judge Rejects Interns’ Novel Argument That Paying School Tuition Is An Indirect Wage Deduction
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Minimum Wage, New York State
In the latest chapter in the ongoing intern battles currently being waged in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Harold Baer rejected plaintiffs’ novel assertion of unlawful wage deductions. Wang v. Hearst Corp., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3768 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 9, 2013). The Wang litigation concerns the applicability…
New York Federal Court Holds Former Student Turned “Volunteer” Was Just That, Not Employee Under The FLSA
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Coverage, Minimum Wage
This blog has explained that the Fair Labor Standards Act does not expressly authorize unpaid interns, and the viability of unpaid internships is generally assessed through the FLSA’s definition of an unpaid “trainee.” Application of this trainee test to various interns and volunteers is often murky and inconsistent. In a new decision deftly navigating this difficult…