Berkeley Journal of Entertainment and Sports Law V. 15

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15 Berkeley J. Ent. & Sports L. 1 (2026)

handle is hein.journals/bjesl15 and id is 1 raw text is:

Beyond the House Settlement:

Establishing Employee Status Under

Johnson v. NCAA to Forge the Way for

Collective Bargaining

Gabriella Rose Lepof*

I.Introduction..............................................................................................3
II.Background.............................................................................................5
A. The History of the Student-Athlete, Amateurism, and the
Rise ofNIL ..............................................................................5
B. Antitrust Law and Labor Law ..................................................7
1. The Sherman Antitrust Act ................................................8
2. The National Labor Relations Board and the National
Labor Relations Act ...........................................................8
a. The Non-statutory Labor Exemption..........................9
b. Determining Employee Status Under the NLRA: The
Common Law Agency Test ........................................9
3. The Fair Labor Standards Act.........................................10
C. Recognition of Division I Football as a Distinct Labor Market
and the General Applicability of its Analysis........................10
III.The House Settlement..........................................................................12
A. Background ..............................................................................13
B. Shortcomings of the House Settlement.....................................14
1. Cap on Athlete Revenue Sharing and NIL Payments ......15
2. The Plan for the Allocation of Damages is Unfair...........16
C. Employee Status and Collective Bargaining as Solutions to
the Shortcomings of the House Settlement............................18
IV.Circuit Court Split on College Athlete Employee Status ....................19

DOI: https:/doi.org/10.15779/Z38154DR82
Copyright © 2026 Regents of the University of California
* J.D., Capital University Law School (2026); B.A., Strategic Communications, The Ohio
State University (2021); B.A., Criminology & Criminal Justice Studies, The Ohio State University
(2021). The author would like to thank Professor Rachel M. Janutis of Capital University Law School
for her expertise, guidance, and encouragement during the drafting of this article, as well as the author's
family and friends for their tremendous support. The author would also like to thank the editors of the
Berkeley Journal of Entertainment and Sports Law for their diligent assistance and support.

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