'Raiderette' Sues: I Make $5 an Hour

The Oakland Raiders pay their cheerleaders what amounts to less than $5 an hour, according to a new lawsuit from one of the team's "Raiderettes." The woman, identified only as "Lacy T," says the team pays $1,250 per season, paid in a lump sum at the end. Not only is that less than minimum wage on its face, it's often reduced by "fines" for things like arriving late or bringing the wrong pom-poms, the LA Times reports. The suit says cheerleaders also pay travel costs themselves.

"I love the Raiders and I love being a Raiderette, but someone has to stand up for all the women of the NFL," the plaintiff said in a statement. Her lawyer wants to make the suit into a class action that other Oakland cheerleaders, past and present, could join, according to CNN Money. "It's as if the Raiders' owners believe that the laws that protect all workers in California just don't apply to them," the lawyer says. (Click to read about another unusual lawsuit.)