Paid to Play - The Canadian Hockey League Players Class Action Litigation

In 2014, the National Labor Relations Board's Regional Director ruled that scholarship football players at Northwestern University were "employees ". Subsequently, in 2015, the full board, andwithout deciding the players' status, declined to assert jurisdiction effectively ending the dispute. There are parallels between this dispute and lawsuits currently before the Canadian courts involving the Canadian Hockey League ("CHL'). The CHL is nominally an "amateur" league and is the principal development league for players hoping to pursue a career as a professional hockey player. The players claim they are "employees" under provincial employment standards statutes. The CHL maintains that the players are "student athletes ", akin to NCAA Division I scholarship athletes. This article examines the similarities and distinctions between CHL players and NCAA Division I athletes, discusses the CHL litigation, the probable outcome, and the possible ramificationso f this litigationf or the CHL and its players. *