Ex-Cowboys cheerleader sues team, claims mascot made more than her
A former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader has filed a lawsuit against the team claiming she and others on the squad were not paid fairly under the federal Equal Pay Act, according to WFAA-TV in Dallas.
Erica Wilkins, who was with the Cowboys from May 2014 to August 2017, filed the suit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for Northern District of Texas.
Wilkins claims she and her fellow cheerleaders made less than a third of what the team’s mascot, “Rowdy,” was paid.
According to the lawsuit, Wilkins earned $8 an hour while Rowdy — who was portrayed by a man — was paid $25 an hour.
The mascot was paid at least $65,000 a year, Wilkins claims in the suit, while her top annual earnings with the Cowboys was $16,516.01.
In addition, Rowdy was often paid for appearances when the cheerleaders weren’t, the lawsuit says.
Wilkins told WFAA the disparity is unfair, especially given the physical requirements for the two jobs.
“A lot of people think we have some sort of fitness trainer — we don’t,” she said. “We don’t have a nutritionist, and we’re required to do all of this and stay in shape on our own.
“Rowdy is in a costume. You have no look requirements, no height requirements and no weight requirements.”
Wilkins also claims she wasn’t paid for all of the hours and overtime she put in as a cheerleader.
“Plaintiff was not paid time and one-half her regular rate of pay for each hour worked over 40 in each workweek during her employment with the defendant,” the lawsuit states.
The Cowboys also didn’t pay her for the time she spent posting on social media for the team, as instructed by management, or for time she spent in meetings that were filmed for the CMT reality show “Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team,” the lawsuit says.
“They’re profiting off our images and our bodies that we work so hard to keep in shape,” Wilkins told WFAA. “We put in so much work and not to be compensated fairly for that work is really an injustice.”
She is seeking the wages she says she is owed and “and all other available damages” for the team’s violation of the Equal Pay Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Wilkins’ lawsuit is the latest in a series of reports about the mistreatment of NFL cheerleaders.
In April, Bailey Davis filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission saying the New Orleans Saints fired her for posting a picture of herself in a one-piece bathing suit on Instagram.
That same month, former Miami Dolphins cheerleader Kristan Ware went to the Florida Commission on Human Relations with a complaint that the team fostered an environment where she was routinely ridiculed for her strong Christian beliefs.
Around the same time, some Carolina Panthers cheerleaders went public about the draconian rules of conduct they’re expected to follow.
Finally, earlier this month, five former cheerleaders sued the Houston Texans claiming they were paid less than their promised wages and weren’t compensated for public appearances.
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