On January 22, 2014, the partners of Levy Vinick Burrell Hyams LLP filed a lawsuit against the management of the Oakland Raiders on behalf of current and former members of the Raiderettes, the NFL club’s popular cheerleaders. A toll free hotline has been set up for calls about this lawsuit. If you are a current or former Raiderette or if you have any information about NFL cheerleader pay practices, please call toll free, 1-844-318-7700 or click here.

The complaint [Lacy T. v. The Oakland Raiders], filed in Alameda County Superior Court, alleges that the club withholds all pay from the Raiderettes until after the end of the season, does not pay for all hours worked, and forces the cheerleaders to pay many of their own business expenses. Under their take-it-or-leave-it contract, Raiders’ cheerleaders are to be paid only $1250 for working an entire season, which amounts to less than $5.00 per hour for the time that they spend rehearsing, performing and appearing at events where they are not paid. The club also withholds the Raiderettes’ wages until after the season ends. The lawsuit claims that team management did not pay Raiderette Lacy for all of the hours which she worked, while at the same time requiring her to pay out of pocket expenses. The lawsuit also claims that the Raiders illegally impose monetary fines on Raiderettes for such things as forgetting to bring the correct pom-poms to practice, wearing the wrong workout clothing to rehearsals, failing to bring a yoga mat to practice, or not turning in written biographies on time.

It is believed that other NFL teams don’t pay their cheerleaders for all of the hours that they work, and that there is a widespread practice in the NFL of refusing to pay cheerleaders for all of the hours that they have worked, forcing them to work for months before they get paid, and demanding that they sign contracts that are filled with illegal provisions.

For further information, please call, toll free, 1-844-318-7700 or click here.