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Oakland Raiders Agree to Pay $1.25 Million to Raiderettes

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The Raiderettes, the Oakland Raiders cheerleaders, perform during the Oakland Raiders preseason game against the Detroit Lions at O.co Coliseum on August 15, 2014 in Oakland, California. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
The Raiderettes, the Oakland Raiders cheerleaders, perform during the Oakland Raiders preseason game against the Detroit Lions at O.co Coliseum on August 15, 2014 in Oakland, California. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

On the night the 2014 N.F.L. season kicks off, it appears the Oakland Raiders have agreed to settle a class action lawsuit with their cheerleaders, the Raiderettes.

The agreement, reported Thursday by Bay City News, includes a $1.25 million settlement and covers 90 Raiderettes who were employed by the team between 2010 and 2013.

Earlier this year, multiple cheerleaders sued the team, alleging the team had failed to pay cheerleaders minimum wage. According to the suit, the cheerleaders' salary of $125 per home game, or $1,250 per season, worked out to less than $5 an hour, well below California's $8/hour minimum wage.

The original lawsuit also claimed that the Raiders operated in "flagrant violation" of other laws, by failing to pay overtime, withholding pay until the end of the season, requiring them to pay some of their own business expenses and failing to provide meal and rest breaks.

The settlement will pay each Raiderette an average of $6,000 for each season worked between 2010 and 2012, and $2,500 for the 2013-2014 season.

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"We hope that as a result of the settlement, teams across the NFL will look at their policies and pratices and change them," Sharon Vinick, one of the lawyers representing the Raiderettes, said.

The settlement will now be submitted to an Alameda County judge for preliminary approval.

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