12/22/24
December 11, 2014
Wage Lawsuit by Bills Cheerleaders Details Appalling Treatment: The Buffalo Bills make over $200 million in revenue a year but not a penny of that goes to the team's cheerleaders. A minimum wage-violation lawsuit filed by five of the Buffalo Jills details how they had to pay $650 for their own uniforms, got no wages, had their Facebook accounts monitored, were told how to handle their menstrual cycle and were required to visit a plastic surgeon who pitched them on breast augmentation. And then there's this: "The Jills were required to attend a golf tournament for sponsors. The high rollers paid cash -- 'Flips for Tips' -- to watch bikini-clad cheerleaders do back flips. Afterward, the men placed bids on which women would ride around in their golf carts. A not-incidental detail: The carts had no extra seats. Women clung to the back or, much more to the point, were invited to sit in the men’s laps."
I can't believe how seedy the Bills let the cheerleader program become. They had the team teaching little girls to cheer at $250 a class while at the same time treating them like the world's worst compensated strippers for fat cats.
If you read to the end there's more evidence of Roger Goodell's "I hear nothink, I see nothink, I know nothink" leadership.
posted by rcade at 11:37 AM on December 11, 2014
Goodell is eventually going to get hammered in slime court one way or another. He can't keep dodging these types of ugly associative occurrences indefinitely.
Glad that the editorial staff at the NYT continues to see fit to leave the acerbic edge in Michael Powell's work. It's especially worthwhile in a case like this, and when discussing the NFL in general.
This situation is beyond outrageous, and we need to know how many other franchises may have a similar situation happening, all carefully kept from public mention. Things should have never gotten anywhere near this point with any team.
Buy shares in the Packers if they're available. Community owned and no cheer squad. Just one or two SpoFites as shareholders would help lower the unctuosity index of NFL ownership in general.
I happen to know a former member of the Pats cheer team, and have met some of her colleagues. Not on a golf junket. They are bright, focused, hard working women who have training, abilities, and professional goals that range far beyond the requirements of their cheer careers. They are also proud of their sports-based accomplishments and associations. Wherever there are grievances, whether Buffalo or elsewhere, I hope the plaintiffs get the best representation possible to pursue them.
One further noteworthy detail regarding golf carts that tells you much of what you need to know about Rolex recreational golf: the 2 seater carts not only have no room for cheerleaders to sit other than on laps. They also have 4 hole cup holders. Golf is a draining endeavor. Players who don't actively follow a comprehensive fluid replenishment program don't get as much joy and fulfillment out of the sport.
posted by beaverboard at 01:16 PM on December 11, 2014
From the NYT article:
Cash-flow problems have nothing to do with it. Terry and Kim Pegula, who made their fortune in fracking, recently purchased the Bills for $1.4 billion. That is the highest price yet paid for a league franchise.Christ, what a bunch of assholes. I'd ask how they sleep at night, but I'm afraid the answer would be "deeply and soundly as only genuine monsters can."The Pegulas are big donors to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. New York State contributed tens of millions to rehabilitate the team's stadium before the Pegulas took over. Now there is pressure for the state to fork over for a new stadium. No doubt I am unfair to place these facts in the same paragraph.
Faced with the lawsuit, the Bills disbanded the Jills for this season. A team spokesman emailed me that the Bills appreciated this "ancillary service" provided by "third-party vendors." Its statement complained of "allegations" that "attempt to give the impression that our organization employs cheerleaders."
Impressions can be so unfair. The Bills, however, might not have helped their case much by keeping the Jills' calendar-release video on the team website. The case is now before Justice Timothy Drury of State Supreme Court, and no trial date has been set. But the judge has ruled that the team set the terms and approved contracts for the Jills. "These facts are further indication of the control the Bills exercised over the Jills," he wrote.
posted by Joey Michaels at 08:11 PM on December 11, 2014
A little unfair to impugn the current owner, seeing as how the lawsuit was filed several months before he bought the team, and it sounds like the squad was disbanded before he took over.
posted by holden at 01:36 AM on December 12, 2014
"I'd ask how they sleep at night, but I'm afraid the answer would be "deeply and soundly as only genuine monsters can."'
I thought the appropriate answer was "On top of a pile of money, with many beautiful ladies."
posted by Bonkers at 07:59 AM on December 12, 2014
The Pegulas aren't responsible for creating the situation, but how they've responded to the suit doesn't cover themselves in glory either.
posted by rcade at 08:42 AM on December 12, 2014
we need to know how many other franchises may have a similar situation happening
I assume it's fairly common. In the past year from a simple search on Deadspin: Raiders, Bucs, Bengals, Ravens. Hell, my wife and I watched the cheerleader version of Hard Knocks one year about the Cowboys cheerleaders and the treatment they showed on-camera in an NFL-sanctioned show about their premier cheerleaders was atrocious.
posted by yerfatma at 09:13 AM on December 12, 2014
The high rollers paid cash -- 'Flips for Tips' -- to watch bikini-clad cheerleaders do back flips. Afterward, the men placed bids on which women would ride around in their golf carts. A not-incidental detail: The carts had no extra seats. Women clung to the back or, much more to the point, were invited to sit in the men's laps.
This sounds like a ridiculous scene from "Mad Men" than something that happened during my lifetime.
I'm a Bills fan, and I hope they lose the lawsuit.