Last week, an Indiana federal court dismissed a lawsuit brought by former University of Pennsylvania (“Penn”) athletes against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) and a number of its member schools over their alleged employment status and corresponding minimum wage protection under the FLSA. Berger, et al. v. NCAA, et al., S.D. Ind., No. 1:14-CV-01710, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18194, Feb. 16, 2016. In Berger, the Named Plaintiffs pursued a nationwide collective action against not only their own alma mater, but also more than 120 schools they never attended. Plaintiffs’ alleged in their Amended Complaint that, by virtue of their participation on Penn’s track and field team, they became employees of Penn for purposes of the FLSA entitled to be paid at least minimum wage for the “work” they performed as student athletes. The Court did not agree.
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