John in Jax Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 It's official. No cherrleaders for the 2014 season I dont get it though, if its really as bad as the Jills who are suing say, why didnt they just quit? No one was forcing them to do it. 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!
KD in CA Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 Not a prayer that they are ruled independent contractors. Clearly there appears to be direction and control exercised by the, " alleged employers", who may or may not include the Bills. We may be seeing the beginning of the end of cheerleading as we know it in professional sports. If so the sport will survive but some of the color and fun will be gone from it. Oh well. And who cares that 99% of the cheerleaders were just fine with the arrangement. At least the 'level playing field' crowd and fans of bureaucracy will be warmed by their smugness. Same thing has happened with unpaid internships for college kids. Lawsuits came and guess what happened? No more internships! Go wait tables in the Hamptons instead of learning something valuable kids!
Rob's House Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 To be an employee don't you first have to have a job?
CodeMonkey Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 To me the cheerleaders add nothing to a pro game. The entire point of it, going back, was primarily that, to lead cheers. Well the cheerleaders have all been replaced, and then some, with all of the electronic gadgetry at stadiums including the huge scoreboards that can say whatever they want along with the ribbon scoreboards and those immense sound systems. The cheerleaders anymore are nothing but a distraction for commercials and the league knows it. But I'm not even sure that they need that anymore with cell phones and PDAs and the like. I would argue differently for college football b/c it's more student oriented. The cheerleaders at our local high school don't even cheer at many games anymore. Their main focus is the gymnastics like competitions that exist now. The whole leading cheers thing today just seems to be a throwback that they do once in a while.
BillsBytheBay Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 Damn. You mean there going to have to get jobs? And work? Like the rest of the woman I know? There are woman working next to men, doing the same job as men, and not compensated the same. I'm worried about them.
yall Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 Damn. You mean there going to have to get jobs? And work? Like the rest of the woman I know? There are woman working next to men, doing the same job as men, and not compensated the same. I'm worried about them. My thought is that most of them probably have real jobs and did this for fun/exposure/etc. You wanna make real money dancing? Go work at 24K...
Mr. WEO Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 If that ain't the truth. You have my vote. But then that reduces part of the NFL's marketing campaign and therefore their money, ... can't have that now. The NFL doesn't care if a team has cheerleaders or not. Some of it's oldest and most successfule teams don't have them. Your friend is right but you may want to recalculate those numbers. The value to the organization includes the many hours of personal appearances that they do. Plus training and practice time they currently do not get paid for it. When back pay is calculated the suit will have them estimate back pay which is due for about 6 years not just for the five but for all the cheerleaders who ever where allowed to "work" during that period. We are talking about a serious liability both past and future. My guess is that there will be no future for cheerleaders in Buffalo and maybe none in the whole league. If the Feds get involved this will be a league wide issue. It's not a class action suit, so only those 5 get any judgement in their favor.
zow2 Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 They can't exploit their good looks to get the gig and then cry foul when the company asks them to maintain those looks that got them a slot on the cheerleaders roster in the first place. How about the girls pay back everything they earned by using the "Bills cheerleader" label? Their little attempt at shaking down the Bills ruined it for all the current Jills and Jills Alumni. Way to go ladies.
Rob's House Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 (edited) 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! I assume the Jills were low priority to begin with and now that it looks to be a source of trouble they'd rather just not deal with it at all. So the selfish acts of these 5 girls ruined it for the rest of them. Edited April 25, 2014 by Rob's House
Direhard Fan Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 A ton showed up to try out. Many were return women. Five rejects ruined it for 35 other girls who made the team. I like the cheerleaders. The lawyers are the only ones who make out. Don't they know that? All blondes I bet. Hope they are happy now. The last settlement the lawyers got 2.5 mil out of 3 mil. The others got hats and shirts. Never learn.
sullim4 Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 "Selfish acts of these 5 girls"? Seriously? One of the allegations of the suit is that they were groped. Do you seriously believe that whistleblowing about being groped is a selfish act? Would you let your girlfriend or wife be treated that way? If you haven't read the "Grooming Standards" document that was posted a page or two back in this thread, please go ahead and do that. Not only does it read like it was written by a high school drop out, but it crosses the line a number of times. Specifying tampon size and replacement schedule? Don't eat too much bread in public? That document reads like someone who knew they were taking advantage of young women that had dreams of becoming cheerleaders, and in so doing wanted to exert ridiculous amounts of control over their lives.
John in Jax Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 (edited) I assume the Jills were low priority to begin with and now that it looks to be a source of trouble they'd rather just not deal with it at all. So the selfish acts of these 5 girls ruined it for the rest of them. 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. Edited April 25, 2014 by John in Jax
Rob's House Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 (edited) "Selfish acts of these 5 girls"? Seriously? One of the allegations of the suit is that they were groped. Do you seriously believe that whistleblowing about being groped is a selfish act? Would you let your girlfriend or wife be treated that way? If you haven't read the "Grooming Standards" document that was posted a page or two back in this thread, please go ahead and do that. Not only does it read like it was written by a high school drop out, but it crosses the line a number of times. Specifying tampon size and replacement schedule? Don't eat too much bread in public? That document reads like someone who knew they were taking advantage of young women that had dreams of becoming cheerleaders, and in so doing wanted to exert ridiculous amounts of control over their lives. I'm sorry, but this is just an absurd response. What's worse is you try to compensate for the lack of any substantive argument with moral outrage. First off, the case has jack squat to do with groping. If you don't believe me read the complaint. There's a link in this thread. Secondly, there are no allegations that the team sanctioned and endorsed said groping. As far as the grooming standards, so what. Were they doing live tampon inspections or giving these girls guidelines? The tampon part sounds more like advice to prevent against embarassing accidents, and the eating part reads like Emily Post. Feel free to chime in though when you have some vague idea what the issue is. 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. I'm still not sure what the point is. If you're saying the team should have voluntarily paid these girls to be cheerleaders I won't argue with you. But that's not the issue here. Edited April 25, 2014 by Rob's House
bbb Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 Where's the document about the bread and tampon size?
John in Jax Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 I'm still not sure what the point is. If you're saying the team should have voluntarily paid these girls to be cheerleaders I won't argue with you. But that's not the issue here. 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
bigK14094 Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 Settle fast, then dump the Jills. My sentiments exactly, I am a season ticket holder, and don't need this window dressing at the games. I go for the football!!! Bills will settle, and, I hope, take this advice.
BUNCH OF MULARKEY Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 I don't know much about the lawsuit but I can't believe they work directly for the Bills. I find it hard to believe that there is no middleman (pimp) that would assume liability if one of these girls strained something out there. Then if there's a groping problem the girls complain to their representative. All these girls in the league should organize. Also it gives the Bills a buffer from this problem. I'm sure many of you here would be delighted to "represent" them.
major Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 I hope whoever our next owner is shows everyone in the FO the exit sign. Stories like this show how inept our FO is
Rob's House Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 (edited) 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 Except that being a cheerleader is not a job. The issue is whether they were employees. I've taken unpaid work before, recently as it were, but I never referred to it as a job, and although I added value and helped others make money, I did not expect a paycheck. And if I went back after the fact and sued for pay for a role that was never a job to begin with, I'd feel like I was !@#$ing over all those who came after me who are going to have a harder time getting that gig because I just showed the "employer" how much of a hassle the role I filled can present. And whether Bills players get paid to sign autographs has less than nothing to do with it. Edited April 25, 2014 by Rob's House
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