Oakland Raiders settle cheerleader suit over pay issues 90 cheerleaders to share $1.25 million

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The Oakland Raiders have agreed to pay $1.25 million to settle a lawsuit that accused them of cheating their cheerleading squad, the Raiderettes, out of minimum wages and expenses.

Lawyers for the Raiderettes and the football team announced the proposed settlement Thursday and said they would seek preliminary approval Sept. 26 from a judge in Alameda County.

The settlement covers 90 women who worked as cheerleaders during any of the four NFL seasons from 2010 through 2013. Lawyers said the women would get about $6,000 for each year they worked between 2010 and 2012, and $2,500 for 2013, when the Raiders raised their pay.

Those sums cover all unpaid expenses and minimum wages, plus interest, said Sharon Vinick, a lawyer for the Raiderettes.

The suit, filed in January, said the cheerleaders' salary of $125 per home game, or $1,250 per season, worked out to less than $5 an hour. That included hours of unpaid work at two to three rehearsals per week, performances at 10 charity events per season, and participation in the team's annual swimsuit calendar photo shoot, the suit said. California's current minimum wage is $9 an hour.

The Raiders also required the women to pay the costs of traveling to those events and to pay for tights, false eyelashes, a yoga mat, and the fees of a team-selected hairstylist, the cheerleaders said.

They said the team also imposed arbitrary fines of $10 or more for such offenses as bringing the wrong pom-poms to practice, and withheld their wages until the end of each season despite a state law that requires pay at least twice a month.

Vinick said the Raiders have changed their policies and now comply with state law. She said similar suits are pending against the Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"We hope the other teams will fall in line and clean up their act," the attorney said.

Out of the $1.25 million settlement, Vinick said, the Raiderettes will get just under $800,000, and the rest will go for attorneys' fees and legal costs.

The Raiders were unavailable for comment. Lawyers for the team signed the proposed settlement and a request for court approval.

The lead plaintiff in the case, identified as Lacy T. under the Raiders' policy of withholding the cheerleaders' last names, said Thursday she was "proud to know I've stood up for myself, other women and my daughter."

Sarah G., another plaintiff, said, "Now we can go back to dancing, being respected and taking down the Niners when they try to step onto our field."