University Can Take Football Case to NLRB, But Courts May Make Call on Player Rights

A National Labor Relations Board regional director decided March 26 that scholarship football students at Northwestern University are employees under federal labor law who have a right to determine whether they wish to be represented by a union, but a final ruling on the rights of the Northwestern players and other student-athletes may be far down the road, several attorneys told Bloomberg BNA March 28.

Northwestern has until April 9 to ask the NLRB in Washington to review the decision by Regional Director Peter Sung Ohr (58 DLR A-14, 3/26/14).

Jonathan C. Fritts, who represents employers at Morgan ...