Another perspective:
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Johnson v. NCAA plaintiffs’ attorney Paul McDonald joins the
Sports Wise podcast with
Tulane Sports Law Director Gabe Feldman and emphasizes that this case has never been about comparing student-athletes on a sport-by-sport basis. “Our case has always been about comparing all of the
DI college athletes to their fellow students in workstudy-style programs – some of whom, by the way, are on academic scholarship – comparing it to them and saying if they are recognized as employees, that's the benchmark, the athletes meet the same criteria more than those student employees do and so it defies logic to, for instance, say the student who took your ticket (at a game)...that student we know is an employee, but the student who's on the field (is not).” McDonald goes on to note that “DI college athletes have timesheets…just like the student who’s selling the popcorn at the games. So it begs the question, if you have timesheets for these athletes, you're basically treating them at all functions like you do the other students even though they're providing you services and working frankly harder than those other students, why don't you just fold them into the same system?” McDonald adds: "What this test is articulating, I don't see a difficulty in establishing that all of the athletes are employees." On if it applies to
DII and
DIIIstudent-athletes: "I think to the extent you are talking about workstudy, the question again becomes are there workstudy students in DII and DIII because if there are workstudy students, if there are kids working who are selling popcorn at the game and being paid an hourly wage, then how do you as a matter of either legal principle or equity say that the athlete who creates the entire industry doesn't meet the criteria at least as much as they do." Doing so, McDonald continues, would also solve several other problems, including the question of international students earning income. “You can work 20 hours in a workstudy position if you’re on an F1 visa, whether it be tax implications – student-employment is exempt from FICA. … The question to ask is, is it a problem in workstudy? If it’s not a problem in workstudy then folding the athletes into that same system won’t create a problem.” Lots more. (
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Paul McDonald, the lead plaintiff's lawyer in Johnson v. NCAA , joins to discuss the Third Circuit's recent and potentially historic decision in... Johnson v. NCAA …
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