Should The Buffalo Bills Cheerleaders Just Be Happy With Low Pay And Poor Treatment?
The Buffalo Bills NFL team has taken another huge hit this week, on the legal front. Five former Bills cheerleaders have filed a lawsuit with the state Supreme Court against the Buffalo Bills, citing poor treatment, and pay that does not meet the state’s minimum wage requirement. The suit claims the cheerleaders were subjected to degrading behavior, such as groping and crude comments, as well as “jiggle tests”, in which their coach would examine their bodies for firmness. In the words of former Buffalo Bills cheerleader, Alyssa, if a body was found to jiggle, “you were getting benched.”
The suit goes on the state that the cheerleaders, called the Buffalo Jills, are wrongly classified as independent contractors. This means they are not required to be paid the New York state minimum wage, which is currently eight dollars an hour. We would assume the cheerleaders were apprised of the specifics of the pay scale and the duties that would be required of them upon hiring, but perhaps the lifestyle of working so hard for so little is a harsher reality than expected. The Buffalo Bills cheerleaders are required to perform an extraordinary amount of work for very little pay. They are not paid for games, practices, or most of the charity and community events where they must make appearances.
Time reports that the cheerleaders may not be paid well because there are so many women who would be happy to take their place, low wages and all. Former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, Starr Spangler Rey, says, “It’s really not amount the money. It’s about the opportunity, and the prestige, and loving the sport and the game.”
The lawsuit the Buffalo Bills cheerleaders have brought forth comes hot on the heels of another case involving the NFL team. Apparently, the Buffalo Bills like to text just a little too much. Jerry Wojcik, a Bills fan who had signed up for the team’s text service, filed a suit in 2012 claiming the Bills sent out several text alerts a week, which exceeded the five alerts allowed. The Buffalo Bills were ordered to pay three million dollars to the class action suit, a whopping sum for such a small nuisance. The Bills released a statement, saying, “The Buffalo Bills have reached a settlement in this matter which we believe is in the best interest of our organization and our fans. The purpose of the Bills’ voluntary, opt-in text messaging program was to provide our fans with information they requested about the team. The organization maintains that our text messaging program was in compliance with the law.”
It is plain to see that the Buffalo Bills have had a difficult time in the legal field recently. What do you think about the case the cheerleaders have brought against the Bills? Should they receive more pay, or just be happy they have gained a spot in the limelight as a Buffalo Bills cheerleader?
[Image via Alex and Ani]
