A federal magistrate judge ruled against Major League Baseball in a 181-page decision, handing minor leaguers suing over back pay significant victories.
The case, Senne vs. Major League Baseball, is a lawsuit brought by minor-league players in 2014 over player pay under various wage laws, including those in Florida and Arizona. While the trial is set to begin June 1, the plaintiffs have already been awarded some damages. Judge Joseph Spero ruled that plaintiffs are entitled to $1,882,650 in penalties on a California claim. He also ruled that they’re owed money on an Arizona claim, but said that amount would have to be determined at trial.
Spero rejected MLB’s arguments that the minor leaguers were seasonal employees, akin to creative artists, exempt from minimum wage laws.
“Plaintiffs here have an employment contract with Defendants that provides for the payment of compensation and expressly requires that Plaintiffs perform service throughout the calendar year,” he wrote.
And he ruled Major League Baseball is a joint employer, meaning the league remains a defendant in the case — exposing not only individual teams to the lawsuit, but the central office itself.
In his decision, Spero, of the Northern District of California, also found that the plaintiffs performed the legal definition of work during spring training in Arizona and Florida, and that travel time on team buses to away games during spring training and in California during the regular season is compensable under law.
Had Spero ruled for MLB that the players were seasonal employees exempt from minimum wage laws, it would have severely curtailed their case.
“The Court also finds that the undisputed facts establish that MLB has significant control over all minor league players,” Spero wrote.