Class Action Lawsuit - Major League Baseball Violated Labor Laws with Unpaid 'Volunteers'

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

Major League Baseball illegally employed thousands of unpaid volunteers at for-profit events, including last month's All-Star FanFest in New York City, in violation of federal and state minimum wage laws, Outten & Golden LLP alleged today in New York federal court.

The class action complaint, filed on behalf of John Chen, of Rego Park, N.Y., accuses MLB, which has annual revenues of about $7 billion, of failing to pay workers minimum wages required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the New York Labor Law (NYLL).

The lawsuit seeks to force MLB to stop soliciting and accepting work from unpaid volunteers, to allow those who cannot afford to work for free to work at FanFest and other events, and to recover wages for all unpaid volunteers who worked at FanFest and related events since August 5, 2007. The lawsuit alleges MLB also violated labor laws at the 2012 All-Star FanFest in Kansas City, the 2011 All-Star FanFest in Phoenix, and the 2008 All-Star FanFest in New York with use of unpaid volunteers.

Justin M. Swartz, Juno Turner, and Michael N. Litrownik of Outten & Golden's New York office represent Mr. Chen.

Mr. Swartz said, "Major League Baseball should be forced to pay minimum wages to the workers who assist in making FanFest a hit every year. It should not get a free pass like a nonprofit organization or a charity."

The five-day 2013 All-Star Weekend was sponsored by at least 15 major U.S. corporations. According to MLB, this year's All-Star game and related events brought approximately $191.5 million into the New York City economy. MLB billed FanFest sponsorships as the "ideal venue to leverage the most eagerly awaited fan experience of the summer."

Mr. Chen, who worked at New York City-area MLB events in June and July, said, "I very much enjoyed working at FanFest, but the minimum wage laws are important. People who cannot afford to work for free should be able to have the same experience I had. I hope Major League Baseball will now change its policy and pay FanFest workers as they pay others who help MLB produce successful events."

Mr. Swartz added, "We hope that tagging MLB with this lawsuit will clean up its practices and lead other sports leagues to make the same call. It would be a win if MLB followed the ground rules that apply to other businesses. When companies save money by accepting unpaid work, wages everywhere slide."

The lawsuit asserts that unpaid volunteers were required to attend mandatory orientations and information sessions, work multiple shifts, and submit to background checks but were paid no wages.

Outten & Golden LLP will seek to have the lawsuit certified as a class action to recover unpaid wages, interest, and attorneys' fees and costs for unpaid volunteers.

Contacts: Justin M. Swartz or Juno Turner, Outten & Golden LLP, 212.245.1000.

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Baseball, Apple Pie and now DRUGS! Major League Baseball Drug Lawsuit supplying players with PEDs

Major League Baseball on Friday sued a South Florida clinic Biogenesis of America and several men associated with it for flouting its drug prevention program by allegedly providing performance enhancing substances to players, the pro sports league said.

According to reports and the MLB suit, filed in Florida's Miami-Dade County, the clinic reportedly supplied banned performance enhancing substances to a number of current and former pro baseball players such as ex-Boston Red Sox Manny Ramirez.

"We believe we have a legitimate legal claim against the defendants, and we intend to pursue it vigorously," said Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball's executive vice president of economics and legal affairs.

A phone call placed Friday night by CNN to Bosch's lawyer was not immediately returned. Previously, CNN has been unable to reach those involved in the clinic. And after the New Times story broke, a CNN crew went to the Coral Gables, Florida, address of the Biogenesis clinic and found its offices vacant.

The 14-page complaint names Biogenesis, its predecessor and six individuals -- among them its program director Anthony Bosch, others at the company, someone who worked at a sports agency, a former University of Miami baseball player and a "self-proclaimed chemist" who supplied substances.

The accused, according to Major League Baseball, solicited players, supplied them with drugs and offered dosage recommendations in order not to test positive for banned substances under the league's program.

The complaint did not specify how much money it is seeking, beyond that it's more than $15,000. But it insists the league rightfully deserves to be paid given what BioGenesis and its affiliates have done to the sport.

"MLB has suffered damages, including the costs of (the) investigation, loss of goodwill, loss of revenue and profits and injury to its reputation, image, strategic advantage and fan relationships," the league alleges in its complaint.

After a surge in home runs in the late 1980s and 1990s -- highlighted by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa racing to break Roger Maris's single-season home run record in 1998, followed three years later by Barry Bonds breaking the new record -- Major League Baseball came under a cloud amid allegations it hadn't done enough to recognize, and combat, the use of performance enhancing substances.

The league, in conjunction with its players' union, in recent years has beefed up its drug testing programs and penalties. A number of top-level and minor league players have been suspended as a result, like Ramirez who was suspended 50 games in 2009.

Biogenesis became part of this story publicly in late January, when the Miami New Times reported that more than a dozen professional baseball players and other athletes were named in records kept over several years by the clinic.

CNN was unable to independently obtain the documents the newspaper said it based its reporting on. And New Times reported earlier this month that it refused Major League Baseball's request for records that contributed to its story.

One of those players named by the publication is Alex Rodriguez, a 37-year-old New York Yankee who ranks fifth in home runs in major league history.

Shortly after the New Times article came out, ESPN.com published a story quoting unidentified sources as describing how Bosch allegedly went to Rodriguez's waterfront Florida mansion when summoned and injected the star player with performance-enhancing drugs, or PEDs.

Read More... http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/22/us/florida-mlb-sues-clinic/index.html