Albany, NY – Today, Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D,WF-Fresh Meadows) announced legislation that would enact the Cheerleaders’ Fair Pay Act, a move that would better protect cheer athletes from workplace abuses and bring equity to the professional sports landscape. The bill would require New York-based professional sports teams utilizing the services of cheerleaders to provide them with the rights and benefits afforded to its employees under existing employment laws.

“As we continue the fight for equal pay across the state, we cannot overlook any worker entitled to fair pay under the law,” said Rozic, who chairs the Subcommittee on Emerging Workforce. “Sports teams and owners should not continue to capitalize without providing the most basic workplace protections.”

The bill comes after five former members of the Buffalo Jills Cheerleading Squad (“Jills”) filed a wage theft lawsuit against the Buffalo Bills alleging that they were not paid minimum wage for their work. The class action complaint filed in 2014 outlined a stunning system of abuses against cheerleaders including sub-minimum pay, reimbursement for mandatory expenses, fraudulent misclassification, penalties for minor infractions with unlawful deductions from earnings, and failure to adhere to the notice and record keeping requirements under the New York State Wage Theft Prevention Act.

The lawsuit is one of five that have been filed against National Football League teams such as the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Oakland Raiders. Both the Buccaneers and the Raiders have since reached a settlement costing each team $825,000 and $1.25 million respectively. Each now pays their cheerleaders minimum wage.

As a condition of employment, the Jills were required to sign a contract as “independent contractors”. As of July 2014, the New York State Supreme Court decided that the control exercised over the Jills “supports the conclusion that they are not independent contractors but employees.”

Rozic’s bill mirrors legislation passed in the California State Assembly and would address the misclassification to ensure that cheerleaders are provided with all of the rights, benefits, and protections under state law, protecting against financial and personal abuses that have been reported throughout the country. The bill is expected to be supported by State Senator Diane Savino (D,WF,I-Staten Island).