Texan Cheerleaders are Suing the Team

You know it's going to be a busy news day when Gloria Allred comes to town, today she's in Houston, Texas representing five former cheerleaders who are set to sue the NFL franchise for not paying the cheerleaders minimum wage and they allegedly "subjected the cheerleaders to unfair working conditions," Allred said in a news release to the Houston Chronicle.

Allred is famous for representing fringe clients in sometimes dubious lawsuits and other high profile legal procedures, she represented some of the women who accused Bill Cosby of foul play.

This isn't the first cheerleader lawsuit rodeo for the Texans, on May 22nd last, a different set of three former Texan cheerleaders sued the team and the cheer supervisors accusing them of not paying at least minimum wage and stated the cheerleader director of body-shaming them and failing to act when cheerleaders were physically assaulted by fans.

We're not exactly sure how 'body-shaming' works in a situation where a more or less perfect body is a job requirement, and look forward to Ms. Allred's elucidation of us all.

The Texans aren't alone in their 'me too' moment in the spotlight, recently other NFL franchises have been targets for cheerleader lawsuits, specifically the Saints and Dolphins. Other NFL cheerleaders have complained to news outlets like the New York Times that they were required to participate in off-field activities with major sponsors of the teams.

Again, this writer would imagine the cheerleading duties included some promotional time away from the games for the team as part of a basic job description. The players and coaches frequently do promo duties as a normal course of keeping the team in the spotlight to fans throughout the year.

With NFL teams suffering major financial losses due to the kneeling scandal of the past two seasons, declining attendance and TV ratings, it might seem prudent for some teams going forward to eliminate 'pro' cheerleaders who are at most a scantily clad distraction somewhere along the sidelines.