Document Type

Prize Paper

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

On February 4, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board’s Region 1 Director issued an opinion classifying Dartmouth College men’s basketball players as employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The decision follows the Board’s ruling in Atlanta Opera, which held that control is not the decisive factor in determining employee status. Despite Atlanta Opera’s emphasis on balancing all four common law factors, the Regional Director placed significant emphasis on the degree of control the university exerted over its players. While some workers’ rights advocates have hailed the decision as a victory for organized labor, critics have argued it will send shockwaves through college athletics programs, irrevocably impairing their longevity. Both reactions misunderstand the flaws in the Regional Director’s handling of the petition while also misstating the likely impact on student athletes’ need for improved conditions and protection from exploitation. Moreover, the bargaining table is an inappropriate venue for addressing student athletes’ concerns. First, there exists an inequitable bargaining power between athletes and universities due to both an economic disparity and universities’ unique authority to supervise student life. Second, leaving the terms and conditions of athletes’ participation to the negotiating table may produce disparate results among teams who experience the same exploitative conditions, creating a patchwork system that provides some athletes greater protection from exploitation than others. By deeming the basketball players employees, the decision’s privileging of control as a decisive factor enables the Board to stray from the purposes of the NLRA and, more fundamentally, reveals that the NLRA is an improper remedy for student athletes’ legitimate concerns. To address student athletes’ need for improved conditions, Congress should pass legislation that models state legislative bodies’ approach to another category of workers excluded from the NLRA: the Domestic Worker Bills of Rights.

Download

Share

COinS