House Education and Labor hearing probes whether college athletes should be classified as employees

WASHINGTON — Members of the House Education and Labor Subcommittee and four witnesses on Oct. 12 examined whether college athletes should be legally classified as employees, a change that witnesses and members said could reshape scholarships, safety protections and the financial model for nonrevenue sports.

Lawyer Daniel L. Nash, a shareholder at Littler, told the panel he does not support reclassifying student athletes as employees and urged Congress to make clear "that students who participate in intercollegiate sports are not employees of their colleges and university." He said that under current labor law revenue alone is not the test for employee status and that treating students like professional athletes would not fit the established legal standards.

The hearing drew sharply different perspectives. Ramogi Hooma, executive director of the National College Players Association (NCPA), described college sports as "an $18,000,000,000 a year industry" and argued athletes need access to legal remedies that could include collective bargaining. Hooma said unions could produce enforceable protections for medical care, safety and contract terms rather than relying on voluntary or unenforced…