Raiders sued again over low cheerleader pay
The Oakland Raiders have been sued again by a former cheerleader who says that she and others were not given basic minimum-wage and overtime pay and were denied promised media opportunities, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
The cheerleader, Susie Sanchez, publicly rejected the settlement by the team from a lawsuit originally filed at the beginning of 2014.
In that case, 90 women who worked for the team from 2010 to 2013 split a $1.25 million settlement. The lawsuit claimed that any member who gained five pounds from her weight at the start of the season, or who appeared "too soft" to the squad's director, was benched for the next home game.
According to a new lawsuit filed in Alameda County Superior Court in California, Sanchez said she and other "Raiderettes" were forced to show up to “deplorable” working conditions and “grueling” training sessions at the beginning of each season that they weren't paid for. Sanchez said that the cheerleaders performed with injuries in fear of being benched or fined.
California's minimum wage is $9 per hour, and the lawsuit says that the team's cheerleaders were paid $1,250 per season, or about $5 an hour.
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