U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup threw out a lawsuit on Thursday night claiming the NFL and its owners conspired to suppress wages of cheerleaders.
According to Sudhin Thanawala of the Associated Press, Alsup tossed the case due to a lack of evidence. However, he gave the plaintiff - a former San Francisco 49ers cheerleader listed as Kelsey K. - the chance to re-file the suit by June 15. Attorney Drexel Bradshaw stated their intention to follow through with the re-filing of the suit.
“To state an antitrust claim here, plaintiff must plead not only ‘ultimate facts, such as conspiracy, and legal conclusions,’” Alsup said in his filing. “The complaint must answer the basic questions of ‘who, did what, to whom (or with whom), where, and when?’”
The complaint sought class action status on behalf of all NFL cheerleaders.
A separate suit between former cheerleaders of the Oakland Raiders and that team was settled earlier this month. The former Raiders cheerleaders accused the franchise of paying them less than minimum wage for their services over several seasons of work.