This is entering f[youknowwho]o levels of "are you freaking kidding me"... [responds with tweets] Tweet 1: "MLS" Tweet 2: "MLS" Tweet 3: "Don't forget that this is a single-entity league. MLS' decision, not #Quakes74. You... have absolutely no idea what "single entity" even means, do you? You cannot separate any owners in American sports leagues from the leagues themselves. But each owner is just a fraction of the league. In none of the leagues would any individual teams be responsible for league policies. But the thing is, your point makes LESS sense for MLS than for any other US league because it's single entity: the league deals with player contracts and payments, not the individual teams. So the Quakes are LESS responsible, relative to say the Warriors, 49ers, Sharks, A's, even NASL/USL... all those teams sign and pay players directly because their leagues are not single entity. Or, you know, you could carefully re-read Carlisle's third tweet THAT YOU YOURSELF JUST POSTED.
I posted that 3rd tweet becuz the comments are along the lines of what I pointed out above. MLS owns the players, but the owners own MLS. So the quakes are part of MLS, and saying they are blameless is not quite correct. Anyhow, that's all I'm going to say on this until Carlisle gives his promised update.
Unless Marvell officially retires and the Quakes hire him in some FO capacity maybe the Quakes are prohibited by league policy from paying him. My guess is that they have provisions against teams going "rogue" in that respect.
Hmm. If he's out of contract, I would think that means he is no longer employed by the league. I am not sure how MLS could prevent a team from spending its money on someone who is technically outside of the league now, so long as that person has no impact on roster regulations and things like that. Although you may very well be right in that there is some mechanism that the league devised to prevent this kind of thing. If this becomes a big deal, I wonder if the players' union will take this issue up in the next bargaining agreement to alleviate this.
Why are we suppose to be upset at SJ/SUM? Wynne signed a contract that stipulated that he had to pass a physical. That's on his agent for negotiating that. Strange thing is, without that physical he could have possibly died in a game or practice.
It's unfortunate that his contract had that stipulation (for all we know, every player contract has this), but yes, we should also be angry that the Earthquakes and MLS can't just overlook that part in order to honor the contract. Presumably, he would have passed his physical without issue had he not had this condition and the amount of money is so small in the grand scheme of things that nobody in MLS would notice it missing. Remember, every single team owner is paying every player's salary. A couple hundred thousand dollars spread over all the owners is practically nothing to each of them. So yes, it's disgusting that they are going to let the man go unpaid despite having signed a new contract which he would willingly fulfill were he able to.
There is an awful lot of speculation on this thread, and knowing our team's reputation for transparency, honesty, comprehensiveness in its communications I anticipate we will never know the full story unless someone gets it from Marvell's lips...
Why would I need to read the comments of random tweeters when I can just read Jeff's article itself? And in that article he absolves the Quakes of any ill-doings. In fact, his 3rd tweet, as just shown by YOU, also absolved the Quakes. Whatever opinions you may have, you should still retract the statement where you call the Quakes disgusting. They have no part in this and do not deserve your unwarranted vitriol
Fisher and the minority Quakes owners vote on league policies, so in this particular case they may have had their hands tied, but they probably helped shape this policy. Given how the A's have treated numerous players, I have very little doubt that the Quakes have done nothing to really fight on Wynne's behalf. Maybe they have, but the history of practically every pro sports owner in the history of ever has screwed players over at every opportunity. So sure, are the Quakes directly responsible for the timing of the heart condition and the contract signing? No. Have they shaped policy to give players as little compensation and few rights as possible? Absolutely.
Still training at Avaya💪🏾, #sjearthquakes still has my locker up ✊🏾 but still no word from @mls 🤐 Don’t know if I can play this year 🤷🏾♂️ and still haven’t been paid since June 💸 #USL #NASL #anyoneneedaroommate pic.twitter.com/amgdnF3Kkt— Marvell Wynne II (@marvwynne22) January 10, 2018 To review, MLS has not paid him since June, MLS has not terminated his contract, MLS has not cleared him to play, leaving the poor guy in limbo. They need to make a damn decision one way or the other soon.
Yeah. We need to decide, whether it's the Quakes or MLS making that decision. If he's training, does that mean he can play? We need to know what the doctors say too. It's a bad situation all the way around. I wish Marvell the best of luck!! Go Quakes!! - Mark
The doctor who performed the surgery has cleared him. A doctor hired by MLS did not, and a third doctor that looked at Marvell also refused to clear him. I don't think there is a good protocol within MLS but I think they can figure it out. For example, have MLS and Marvell select a panel of 3 mutually-agreeable doctors who will do a final review and make a decision.
What can fans do about this? Shall we send letters to our invisible front office? Maybe refer Marvell to an employment or disability lawyer?
This reflects very poorly on MLS, but I'm not at all surprised. His contract isn't worth that much overall. They could so easily just negotiate a percentage deal of it or give him the whole thing and say thanks for playing in our league. Sorry you can't keep playing with us. It's shameful to hold his wages hostage while they make no effort to resolve the situation.
I despise the MLS. If it weren't for the Earthquakes, I would never bother watching a match (I didn't watch 2006/07). It really is a Mickey Mouse league run by a fawning toady with no shame. I think that the league's treatment of Miami in 2001, San Jose in 2005, and Columbus in 2017 - combined with its ongoing obvious favoritism towards LA and NY are excellent exhibits of who to alienate a fanbase. Lies, deception, and backroom deals are Don Grabber's tools of the trade, and he employs them with the deftness of a crowbar...
He needs to file a wage complaint against the MLS with the State of California. https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/HowToFileWageClaim.htm He should recover back wages plus penalties.
I'm sure MLS keeps a stable of lawyers on retainer to ensure that their contracts are as airtight as possible. Marvell can't afford a lawyer at this point (no income since June?) so someone would have to be willing to work pro bono, ie an Earthquakes fan. He wouldn't win, but they might toss him some biggish crumbs to make him go away.
I had to do this twice. Both times, things basically went my way. One does not need a lawyer. My most recent experience taught me that California public agencies are exempt from wage and hour laws. Filing the claim finally got my ex public sector employer to pay me the unpaid wages after every other avenue was going nowhere. I couldn't get any penalties. I suspect Wynne doesn't want to piss off anyone with legal action. By the way, f.u. MLS on this one.
I'm sure he doesn't want to piss anyone off, but if he does and he feels he's been retaliated against, the State of California can help with that too .... lawyer free. https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/howtofileRetaliationcomplaint.htm
He doesn't need a lawyer threatening to sue. He needs a California Labor Commissioner telling the MLS that they will not be able to operate a business in California because they're in violation of state labor laws.
Please note: I would rarely suggest a lawsuit. But based on my extensive experience (and though I don't have a JD, I ran a legal services firm) often people do not get heard unless there is a lawyer's name on the letter. The legal system is all about access.