The Buccaneers have "agreed to pay up to $825,000 to settle" an unfair-labor, class-action lawsuit by 94 of the team's former cheerleaders, according to Tony Marrero of the TAMPA BAY TIMES. The settlement, signed by Buccaneers COO Brian Ford on Feb. 26 and filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Tampa, "must still be approved by a judge." The team "disputed the claim and continues to deny the team owed the women back pay." But the franchise in court documents decided to settle after "many rounds of negotiations." A team spokesperson "declined to comment." Morgan & Morgan attorney Kim De Arcangelis, who represented the cheerleaders, said that each woman will receive "about $5,254 per season, an estimated average of what they would have earned if paid minimum wage," though that amount will end up being "about $3,445 for up to five seasons due to the statute of limitations" after attorney fees and costs are deducted (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 3/7). PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Mike Florio cited a TMZ report stating the resolution "will pay the lawyers $264,000 and the class members $561,000," working out to "an average of $5,968 per person" (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 3/7).
