Major League Baseball has agreed to settle a federal class action lawsuit to the tune of $185 million. The lawsuit was filed by minor league players who accused the league of minimum wage and overtime violations, causing players to lose out on pay that they should have been entitled to.
The lawsuit highlights labor wage violations under California, Arizona, and Florida law. The settlement came just three weeks before the case was set to go to trial. Minor league players welcome the settlement after nearly eight years of litigation.
In March 2022, a federal magistrate judge ruled that the MLB owed players damages because they were employees. Judge Joseph Spero ruled that the plaintiffs were owed $1,882,650 under a California claim. Public interest in the case along with growing outrage among the public also pushed the MLB to settle instead of going to trial.
The case was set to go to trial after the Supreme Court decided not to hear the MLB’s appeal which pushed back against the lawsuit’s validity of being a class action suit.
The lawsuit was filed in February 2014 by the Miami Marlins’ Aaron Senne and two other former minor leaguers, Michael Liberto and Oliver Odle.
The lawsuit highlighted the centuries-old contract guidelines used by the league in its opening statement. The lawsuit detailed that MLB “traces its roots to the nineteenth century. Unfortunately for many of its employees, its wage and labor practices remain stuck there.”
As part of the settlement, the MLB has agreed to send out a memo to teams that would allow minor league players to receive payment during spring training, extended spring training, and instructional league play. Before this settlement, teams were not allowed to pay players during these periods.
A lawyer representing the plaintiffs, Garrett Broshuis, partner at Korein Tillery, shared, “This is a great deal for players. It provides historic relief that changes part of the contract that has been in there for as long as anyone can remember, and it provides significant relief to thousands of ball players out there. When we brought this case, nothing like it had ever been brought before, and this is a really good victory.”
Following the deduction of attorney’s fees, plaintiffs are expected to split roughly $120 million in settlement payout. An estimated 20,000 minor league players will be part of the payout.
The MLB issued the following statement following news of the settlement. "We are only in the second year of a major overhaul of the 100-year-old player development system and have made great strides to improve the sharing.” The statement goes on, "We are proud that minor-league players already receive significant benefits, including free housing, quality health care, multiple meals per day, college tuition assistance for those who wish to continue their education and over $450 million in annual signing bonuses for first-year players. We are pleased we were able to come to a mutually agreeable resolution but are unable to comment on the details until the agreement is formally approved by the Court.”
