The NCAA returned to a federal courtroom this week, and that setting looks to be no safe haven for the organization amid mounting pressure for structural change.
A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit heard oral argument on Wednesday in Johnson v. NCAA, a case that could upend the collegiate model. It centers on the assertion from former Villanova football player Trey Johnson and other athletes that Division I college athletes are employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and are therefore entitled to be paid a minimum wage.
The hearing, held in Philadelphia and presided over by Judges Theodore McKee, David Porter and L. Felipe Restrepo, lasted just over an hour. The panel is tasked with deciding whether Judge John Padova applied the correct standard when he refused to throw out the case against the NCAA despite the organization’s attempts to have it dismissed. The panel’s decision is expected later this spring or early summer.
If the panel agrees with Padova, the NCAA could immediately appeal the case to the Supreme Court, or the organization could wait to see what happens at the district court level. A decision by the lower court, which could then itself be appealed, could come by the end of the calendar year.
The three judges poked…
