John in Jax

Apples and Oranges. The Jills worked EXCLUSIVELY for the Buffalo Bills. The home contractor, and his employees, can go work for anyone. The Jills could NOT even go do modeling/acting work (Out of their Jills uniform) without written approval from Stejon AND the Buffalo Bills, so their economic viability was definitely affected. The Jills, by their presence at special events & appearances AT OTHER LOCATIONS than RWS, brought in additional revenue to Stejon, and presumably, to the Buffalo Bills. Of course, when the contractor is not at your home, but off on other projects, you don't get anything. And for your scenario above, I'd bet that you'd have a real hard time finding a contractor to work under such restrictions (no music, no shorts, and "work exclusively on my home 'til it's finished.").

One of the main points of the lawsuit is that the Buffalo Bills are in fact the "employer", and I tend to agree with that notion. Do you really think that the Buffalo Bills organization just turned over TOTAL control of the Jills to Stejohn (and the company before them), and let them run it any way they wanted to? Get real. I'm pretty confident that the Buffalo Bills had FINAL approval for: the rulebook for the Jills, the costume design for the Jills, when & where Jills could make public appearances, the music the Jills would dance to at the game, how many tickets/parking spaces Jills would get for games, etc. This suit is likely to change how teams do business with their cheerleaders/dancers all across the league, and that's probably a good thing. Now, for those of you saying that you never pay any attention to the Jills.....SERIOUSLY!? With the way the Bills have played over the past 10+ years, I might think that the Jills would be the highlight of a game at RWS.

The guy sitting next to her....I assume that's her lawyer....is making some very unusual/psychotic faces during the interview. WTH is wrong with him? LOL

Again, there is a WEALTH of information in the lawsuit, which can be found here: http://deadspin.com/suit-bills-cheerleaders-were-taught-how-to-wash-intim-1566239771 From the lawsuit: Plaintiff Jaclyn S. was paid approximately $806.00 for all of her work as a Jill during the 2012-2013 football season, $ 800.00 for all of her work during the 2011-2012 season, and $1,800.00 for all of her work during the 2010-2011 season. Plaintiff Alyssa U. was paid $420.00 for all of her work as a Jill during the 2012-2013 football season. Plaintiff Maria P. was paid $105.00 for all of her work during the 2012-2013 season. So, they were indeed paid, just not very much, and not in accordance with NY state law.

Are you talking about the Jills, or the myriad of young, inexperienced, mostly blond, nubile anchors, reporters, & sideline hosts employed for sports highlight shows and sporting events by ESPN, Fox, CBS, ABC, et al?

Say what!? That is the WHOLE issue here....that they weren't compensated.....that they weren't paid fairly & properly (and in accordance with NY state law). Do ya think that ANY of the Buffalo Bills show up at autograph-signing and/or other appearances (not counting purely charitable events, although I wouldn't be surprised if they even got paid for those) and receive NO money for that? If your answer is "yes", I have some oceanfront property in Iowa I'd like to sell you. LOL

From the lawsuit: Most of the mandatory Jills’ appearances were designated as “sponsor appearances,” which were a benefit offered as part of sponsorship packages sold by defendants, Buffalo Bills, Stejon, and formerly Citadel, to outside vendors. Defendants had at least eleven named sponsors in 2013. Upon information and belief, Stejon collected a minimum of $10,000 for each sponsorship that it sells. The Jills cheerleaders received no compensation from defendants for sponsor appearances. All Jills were required to participate in the “Junior Jills” program, where in they taught workshops to young girls on the basics of cheerleading. The program was run by defendants Citadel and Stejon, and was held at three sites: Buffalo, Rochester, and Toronto. Parents of Junior Jills paid a fee of $250.00 per child for enrollment in the program. Upon information and belief, between 300-400 children enrolled in the program every season, including approximately 100 children at the Buffalo site. At the direction of Citadel and Stejon, 11 participating Jills provided instruction to the children over the course of several days. The Jills received no compensation for their participation in the Junior Jills program. So for the mathematically challenged, that's at least $110,000 a year for the appearances, and at least $75,000 a year for the Junior Jills program. Maybe it's just me, but unless this business is just rolling in dough, I would think that most businesses in WNY would like to continue to have a pretty much guaranteed revenue stream of $185,000+ annually. ETA: Well, now that I just reread what I posted, it hit me like a ton of bricks. LOL Now that the cat is out of the bag, Stejon probably would NOT be able to keep all that cash like they have in the past, since they would likely be paying the Jills a bunch of that.

First, Logic would say that if Stejon was above board, and doing everything lawfully & properly, they wouldn't close up shop so quickly. Also, why don't the Buffalo Bills step up and hire a competent company to take the reins, or maybe just hire a few new employees on their ow to handle things? Secondly, if 5 gas stations in a 3-mile radius circle are colluding on the price of gas to rip everybody off, why should anyone care and/or gripe about it? I mean, no one is forcing you to buy gas in that circle. Go someplace else or take the bus!

Interesting....the Jills "Glamour Team" included a "Brow Specialist" and a "Sugarist." So what's a "Sugarist" do? LOL

Snipped your message for brevity, but I totally agree with all of what you wrote....Nice job! I would say that about 90% of the public has no clue as to the actual definition of "racism", and they throw that term around so frequently, that it's laughable and preposterous to those of us who do know the definition.

Go read the lawsuit (linked at Deadspin). The Bills were a "de facto" employer since the Bills had plenty of control over just about everything the Jills said & did. Apples & Oranges. You must be missing the loads of posts that are saying this is just "a hobby" or just a "side job", where the girls were just using the position to get publicity to further their careers. In YOUR example above, I assume everyone is a "real" employee, with a real defined salary & real defined benefits, right? In this case, the Bills are trying to severely limit (no outside modeling work even OUT of the Jills uni) these girls from earning a living, even though the Jills gig is at such a low pay it's laughable & pathetic.

I'm guessing that you also didn't bother to take a look at the actual lawsuit, but here are some very relevant parts of it: At all times herein alleged, defendants the Bills, Citadel, and Stejon required that, as a condition of employment, each and every Jill had to sign a written contract misclassifying the worker as an “independent contractor”. Contracts from prior years contained the same or substantially similar material terms. This “contract” is illegal, void and unenforceable because, inter alia, its terms are contrary to New York State’s public policy as set forth in Labor Law § 650 (the Minimum WageAct), it violates a statute imposing a penalty (Labor Law § 652), and its terms, particularly those relating to the amount of employee compensation, are too vague, indefinite and uncertain. At all times relevant, the Jills worked as Employees of defendants the Bills, Citadel,and Stejon, because the defendants exercised sufficient direction and control over the Jills including over the results and means of the work, to establish their status as employees. This is true despite the fact that the Jills were required to sign a “contract” misclassifying them as independent contractors. AND, there is case law on the books that backs up the above assertions (that these types of illegal "contracts" are null & void). The arguments back and forth in this thread would REALLY be more worthwhile if the people arguing would read the lawsuit, instead of just throwing up nonsensical opinions based on NO knowledge of what was going on. ;-)

Obviously, it was meant in the vein of slave labor, but I guess what's obvious to most is not so obvious to some. Btw, did you even read through the lawsuit? Here's a few nuggets which are quite outrageous: The defendants imposed severe restrictions on the Jills’ freedom to engage in other work. For example, for the term of their contract with defendants, the Jills were prohibited from participating “in any other capacity or employment in promotions, advertising, modeling or photography, with other than the Buffalo Jills, Stejon Productions and/or its official photographer, without first having obtained the written or verbal consent of the Director.” The Jills’ Handbook also prohibited the Jills from taking part in contests and/or fashion shows, media events, commercials or advertisements, in or out of uniform. Most of the mandatory Jills’ appearances were designated as “sponsor appearances,” which were a benefit offered as part of sponsorship packages sold by defendants, Buffalo Bills, Stejon, and formerly Citadel, to outside vendors. Defendants had at least eleven named sponsors in 2013. Upon information and belief, Stejon collected a minimum of $10,000 for each sponsorship that it sells. The Jills cheerleaders received no compensation from defendants for sponsor appearances.

Actually, according to their written "Rules Handbook", fraternizing with the players is NOT allowed, and if they do it, they will be punished/fined/beaten/benched.

Just read the whole lawsuit (linked at Deadspin), and WOW! I had no idea that these cheerleaders are basically treated like slaves. It appears to be a slam dunk case for the ex-Jills, and it is rather appalling and disgusting how they (Jill cheerleaders) were/are treated. One thing that really surprises me is that there are not more....many more....ex-Jills joining in on this lawsuit, and turning it into a class-action suit. Also, the amount of money raked in by the two Jills' managing companies.....with NO money going to the Jills.....for all those non-game appearances/activities, is outrageous, and should be criminal.

My wife has forbid me to wear my Bills Zubaz in public. She says they look foolish. LOL

LOL. Nice. I see what you did there, but did anyone else?

This is both laughable and sad. But hey, for the time being it's still a free country, so if Trump does buy the Bills, SEE YA!

Jury got it right. He fired 3 different volleys of 3, 3, & 4 shots. The final 4 shots are what did him in. Those 4 shots were fired at the SUV as it was driving away...no threat at all to Dunn at that point. We have mandatory minimum sentences here, so unless the judge pulls a surprise and runs the sentences concurrently, he will get sentenced to 60 years, MINIMUM, in the big house at Starke. I'm not going to go into all the details here, but it was about WAY more than just "loud music." The kid who died was an angry, racist, foul-mouthed punk, who after the music was turned down by his buddy in the front seat, demanded that the buddy turn it back up, and that's when he went on a verbal tirade against Dunn. Dunn never asked them a 2nd time to turn it down btw. Btw, lesser charges of 2nd degree murder as well as manslaughter were both on the table for the jury to choose, but all 12 could not agree on any of the three "killing level" choices. The prosecutors seem all bent that they're going to try him again, but it's likely they'll get the same result. It only takes ONE juror to hang a jury....that's 8%....I guarantee you that there's more than 8% in this town who thinks Dunn was acting in self defense (with those first 6 shots).

Ha ha...good one. You think too highly of yourself. Looks like benjamin (in bold above) has you pegged to a T.

SHE said this less than a year ago: Bill de Blasio's wife opened up about falling in love with a man after years of identifying as a lesbian and their life as a “very conventional, unconventional couple” in a candid interview released Thursday. Chirlane McCray, 58, said her relationship with de Blasio was made possible “by putting aside the assumptions I had about the form and package my love would come in.” The interview, with Essence magazine, comes 34 years after McCray penned a groundbreaking 1979 essay for Essence entitled, “I Am a Lesbian,” about coming out as a gay black woman. Why do people smoke cigarettes? They're bad for your health (we've known this for about 50+ years now), they make you stink. they force you to take your work breaks in inconvenient places, & the habit is expensive. Why do people do hard drugs? You could get arrested & go to jail, you could OD & die, and the habit is usually expensive. Why do some people drive their car and/or motorcycle at very high speeds on public highways? You could get arrested & go to jail. You could crash & die. Why do people drink alcohol in excessive amounts? You could get sick. With too much alcohol in a short period of time, you could actually die. The alcohol consumption could cause you to lose control of rational thoughts & actions, and you could do something illegal; you could become a danger to yourself or to others (DUI, accidents at work, etc.). Why do serial killers kill? Are they "born to do so?" Why do people do ANY risky, dangerous, out of the norm, or looked-down-upon behavior? Are they making a choice to do those behaviors, or do they have no control? I have never understood why people would do all the stupid things I mention in the paragraph above. This is fun.

Yep, agreed. That's what I said in my first post in this thread.

I thought it was very obvious what I was saying, but I guess not. Sorry. So here it is: not everyone who is gay, is "born gay." Some people do indeed choose to be gay. That's not me making that up, rather, that's real world observations of peoples' behavior & actions. Re the heteros "throwing around" their sexuality, or religion, or racial makeup: Not seeing it. If reporters ask athletes about it, they usually will answer truthfully (Tebow comes to mind as a good example), but very few athletes come out and just proclaim the things I mentioned, when no one is asking.

May I introduce you to the wife of the current Mayor of NY city, who by her own declaration, "used to be a lesbian." Pretty sure that there might be others like her. Not making any judgment or definitive statement....Just sayin' it is what it is

Seeing your "handle" and avatar, this surprises no one. LOL I'll be rooting for him if he plays for the Bills, otherwise, he's just another enemy player. Re the "coming out" party: I don't care one whit, and there was no need to do it. And judging from just about everything I read and see, the 97% of the population who is not gay, does not need or want other peoples' gayness constantly thrown in their faces. Like many others have been saying for YEARS, what people do in their own private lives is NO concern to anyone.