NEW YORK (AP) - A New York judge has tossed out a lawsuit by a volunteer at last July’s baseball All-Star FanFest who claimed 2,000 volunteers should have been paid by Major League Baseball.
Federal Judge John Koeltl (KOHT’-uhl) in Manhattan says the league was protected by an exemption from federal minimum wage laws for temporary amusement or recreation establishment events. The judge’s findings were released publicly Wednesday.
John Chen’s lawsuit had sought lost wages. He said federal and state minimum wage laws were violated when the league recruited volunteers to operate 40 attractions at an event advertised as “the largest interactive baseball theme park in the world” July 12-16.
Chen’s lawyer, Justin Swartz, says they are “just in the early innings.” He says they plan to pursue the case in state court.
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