The latest turn in the legal fight for recognition of college athletes as employees who can form unions is taking place out west, with members of the Oregon State women’s basketball team on Friday filing a petition for union representation with the state’s Employment Relations Board.
The development is legally important for at least two reasons.
First, it’s the first time a group of female college athletes has formally sought recognition as a players’ union. The Oregon State players’ effort is occurring as women’s college sports continues to grow and become more popular with fans, and 54 years after Title IX became law.
However, it’s not the first time female college athletes have sought recognition as employees.
In 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit denied Penn track and field athletes Gillian Berger and Taylor Hennig recognition as employees within the meaning of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which guarantees minimum wage. Berger and Hennig came up short in part because their athletic participation was deemed too closely tied to their educational experience and amateur status.
