As we head into the July 4 weekend, your EntertainHR sports reporters cover America’s favorite pastime–litigation!
The women who cheer football got a boost this week when the Oakland Raiders announced they would pay their Raiderettes the California minimum wage of $9 per hour beginning this coming season. This blog first covered the story back in January when the lawsuit was filed. 
We would not be surprised to see similar lawsuits from other cheerleading squads, particularly in California or other states with employee-friendly labor laws. The attorneys for the Raiderettes who filed the lawsuit will continue to pursue their action against the team. They seek back pay and attorneys’ fees for the alleged violations from past seasons.
The women who play football have filed a lawsuit of their own. A class of current and former players in the Lingerie Football League–now the Legends Football League–have sued the league in Los Angeles superior court for a litany of wage and hour violations based on the league’s alleged misclassification of them as independent contractors and not employees. Employee misclassification is a hot topic in employment law and has been the reason for a blitz of wage and hour class actions in recent years. The U.S. Department of Labor has devoted an entire section of its website to the topic.
One guy who watches futbol was reportedly fired for telling his boss he was out “sick” when he was actually watching a World Cup match between Germany and Portugal. The Chinese man was terminated after one of his supervisors saw his posts about the match on social media. Monitoring social media, in China, can you believe that?! The now-unemployed man was last seen sitting outside a Beijing train station holding a sign stating he was “looking for a humane boss.” Good luck with that.
And finally, a tip for celebrating Independence Day: Don’t set off fireworks in your coworker’s office, even if you’re a judge. It can get you in a lot of trouble.
