MMA Junkie’s Steven Marrocco first reported that former UFC fighter Leslie Smith had her NLRB complaint against Zuffa dismissed last week per Smith’s attorney Lucas Middlebrook.
Per a report from ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Middelbrook plans to appeal.
Smith filed the charging letter in May of this year based on unfair labor practices against the UFC.
Leslie Smith Charging Letter by on Scribd
In June, the NLRB Investigation on Zuffa determine that the charging letter had merit and would file a complaint against Zuffa in Federal District Court. The NLRB could have filed an injunction against Zuffa which would have prohibited the company from designating its contracted athletes as independent contractors and make them statutory employees.
Post-decision, NLRB Region 4 where the charging letter was filed, was instructed to send the case to D.C. for review. Smith’s attorney believed that this was politically motivated.
Payout Perspective:
This is a stunning turn of events for the NLRB to dismiss the matter after there appeared to be merit to Smith’s claims. MMA Payout has made a FOIA request on the charging to determine if there is any explanation for the dismissal. The case had been dormant since being sent to D.C. and one can only wonder what went on during this process.
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