Overview
In a complaint filed today, a putative class of New Yorkers who worked as unpaid volunteers for Major League Baseball have accused the league of violating minimum wage laws. Citing the recent decision by Judge Pauley in Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, which held that two unpaid film industry interns were "employees" under federal labor laws, the volunteers at a recent MLB fan event claim that MLB took advantage of their unpaid labor while providing only "a shirt, a cap and a cinch drawstring backpack, free admission for the volunteer and one guest to FanFest, a water bottle, and a baseball." The complaint seeks to "(1) force MLB to stop soliciting and accepting work from unpaid volunteers, (2) allow those who cannot afford to work for free to work at FanFest and other events related to the All-Star Game, and (3) recover unpaid wages for all unpaid volunteers who performed work for MLB during the relevant period." The proposed class is all unpaid volunteers who worked for MLB in New York from August 7, 2007 through the date of final judgment in the matter. The case has been assigned to Judge Koeltl.