NCAA asks court to dismiss former USC linebacker Lamar Dawson’s wage lawsuit
The NCAA warned that paying athletes “could jeopardize the long-term sustainability of college sports” in a motion to dismiss former USC linebacker Lamar Dawson’s class-action lawsuit against the organization.
Dawson sued the NCAA and Pac-12 in September, alleging they violated state and federal law governing hours and wages and were “joint employers” of Division I football players.
The NCAA pushed back last week in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, calling the action “misplaced” and citing a section of California’s labor code that says college athletes aren’t employees for the purposes of worker’s compensation.
“Given that, as a matter of well-settled California law, a student-athlete is not an employee of his or her school,” the motion said, “an athletic conference and a national membership organization that have literally no day-to-day interaction with the student-athletes attending their member institutions cannot possibly be an employer.”
The NCAA added in a footnote that “imposing wage and hour liability and requiring payment of wages could … potentially take away opportunities for thousands of prospective student-athletes.”
Dawson played for USC from 2011 through 2015. His lawsuit seeks unpaid wages and overtime in addition to unspecified damages.
Twitter: @nathanfenno
More to Read
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.