The judge overseeing USWNT players' collective bargaining lawsuit against US Soccer has ruled in favor of the governing body, according to reports. As such, the USWNT does not have a legal right to strike before the Olympics.
BREAKING: the court ruled in favor of @ussoccer & not the players in CBA lawsuit. Getting more details now. #uswnt
— Julie Foudy (@JulieFoudy) June 3, 2016
The lawsuit concerned the players' right to strike before the upcoming Rio Olympics, which US Soccer said was canceled out by a no-strike clause inserted in a previous collective bargaining agreement and protected by a memorandum of understanding agreed to in 2013.
The federation warned that a strike could have forced the women to pull out of the Olympics, which, in turn, would have hurt the development of the sport in the U.S. The union wanted the option of striking, though it hadn't said definitively it would strike.
Later in the article:
The lawsuit focused on strike rights is related to a wage discrimination complaint filed by five players in March with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The complaint alleges that women's team players in some cases earn as much as four times less than their counterparts on the men's national team.
It's important to note this action does not have any bearing on USWNT players' other ongoing lawsuit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The court ruling 2day in favor of @ussoccer has nothing 2 do w EEOC filing. Separate issues. 2day means pl's cannot legally strike b4 Oly's.
— Julie Foudy (@JulieFoudy) June 3, 2016
Remember CBA lawsuit =/= EEOC complaint. This lawsuit was to determine if CBA was valid through December bc of memo of understanding #USWNT
— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) June 3, 2016
The EEOC filing is the big one. This case was just a warm-up.
Contact The18 Staff Writer Sam Klomhaus at Klomhaus@The18.com or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus
