The Third Circuit is expected to soon make a decision as to whether student-athletes can be considered university "employees" under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"). But its interpretation of the law might reverberate beyond the confines of college sports and could implicate whether unpaid student interns must also be treated as employees.
In late 2019, Ralph Johnson, a former Villanova University football player, initiated a class action in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Johnson et al. v. National Collegiate Athletic Association et al., asserting that student-athletes in Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut qualify as university "employees" under the FLSA, and thus must be compensated for their time spent related to their athletic activities.
In early 2020, the university defendants filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds that (1) student-athletes are amateurs; (2) the Department of Labor already determined that student-athletes do not qualify as employees under the FLSA; and (3) student-athletes do not meet the multifactor test for student employment under Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc., 811 F.3d 528 (2d Cir. 2016). In 2021, the District Court denied the motion to dismiss, finding that the student-athletes plausibly alleged a claim that they are employees of their universities.
In February 2022, the Third Circuit granted the university defendants' petition to appeal that decision to decide the following question: "Whether NCAA Division I student...
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