As 2022 begins, college athletes’ quest to gain recognition as employees is headed to a federal appeals court. On Dec. 22, Pennsylvania district judge John Padova elevated, for appellate review, this provocative issue in the case Johnson v. NCAA:
Whether NCAA Division I student athletes can be employees of the colleges and universities they attend for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act, solely by virtue of their participation in interscholastic athletics.
Judge Padova accomplished this step by certifying this issue for interlocutory appeal, meaning an appeal of a case before it is decided. Last fall, the judge denied motions by colleges and the NCAA to dismiss Johnson v. NCAA, a trial date for which has not yet been set. Former Villanova football player Ralph “Trey” Johnson and other current and former athletes maintain they are or were employees of their attended colleges. They also insist the NCAA functions as a joint employer by controlling college sports. If the case prevails, both schools and the NCAA could be on the hook to pay college athletes wages.
Judge Padova’s certification allows Villanova, Fordham, Cornell and several other colleges to ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to assess his reasoning at the motion to dismiss stage. The answer could eventually pave the way for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether college athletes are employees.
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