By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services via Arizona Capitol Times
The U.S. Supreme Court has given a key victory to players on minor league baseball teams, clearing the way for them to sue to be paid the minimum wage while they’re in spring training in Arizona.
Without comment on Monday the justices refused to disturb an appellate court decision that says the players are entitled to pursue a class-action lawsuit to show that the 15 teams that train here were not obeying minimum wage laws. That specifically includes Arizona law which currently mandates that all employees get at least $12 an hour.
Friday’s ruling comes more than a year after state Rep. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge, attempted to undermine at least part of the players’ claims by seeking to amend state law to exempt baseball teams, including the Arizona Diamondbacks, from the voter-approved laws that mandate what employees must be paid. That measure also effectively would have let teams work their minor league players as much as they want without having to worry about overtime — or, in some cases, paying them at all.
It died amid legal questions about whether Arizona lawmakers have the power to alter what voters had approved.
