We promise to see a lot more of these lawsuits in the coming years and months. For too long, NFL teams have treated their cheerleaders more as commodities than actual employees.
It’s led to multiple lawsuits and seven figure judgments in the past. This could also soon include former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Erica Wilkins, who has filed suit against the team under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
According to a local NBC affiliate in Dallas, Wilkins claims that she was not paid time-and-a-half for overtime hours she worked as a member of the team’s cheer squad. Another claim in the suit indicates that Wilkins and her fellow cheerleaders did not receive equal pay. The claim brings up Cowboys mascot, Rowdy, who was allegedly paid more than the cheerleaders.
For their part, the Cowboys have not responded publicly to the lawsuit. That will certainly come within the next several hours.
Known as America’s Team, the Cowboys and their cheerleaders had in the past been considered the gold standard. When all the claims are made public, this surely won’t paint the organization in the best of lights.