The Miami Dolphins hope their defense in court proves stronger than it did in the final game of the 2020 NFL season against the Buffalo Bills. The franchise will be forced to defend against a new federal case brought by Ronald Katz, who worked for the Dolphins from 2008 through 2016 and claims that he was improperly classified as an independent contractor instead of as an employee.
Katz, who held the title of vice president of the Dolphins, is perturbed about not being provided with benefits provided to NFL employees, which includes a pension plan and supplemental employee retirement plan. He claims that his $600,000 annual salary was paid in exchange for his performance of tasks that were integral to the Dolphins’ business such as signing checks for the Dolphins; analyzing budgets and cash flows; attending quarterly owner and advisor meetings; and reviewing, negotiating, and executing contracts for stadium events.
Katz also points out that he was provided a permanent office in Florida and New York, as well as a company credit card. He makes the claim that the Dolphins controlled and supervised all of his decisions, that he was provided official Dolphins email addresses, and that the business expenses, including travel, were all covered by the team.
While Katz was a licensed certified public accountant (CPA) and continued to provide some services of that profession during the eight-year period he worked with the Dolphins, he claims that such business was not of the same nature as the services he provided to the Dolphins. Furthermore, Katz says that he gave up his CPA license because of the demands placed upon him by the team.
What Katz intentionally left out of the complaint is that, in 2016, he was charged with engaging in a multiyear tax-evasion scheme. Katz was alleged to have diverted from a law firm more than $3 million in fee income from tax shelter and related transactions and to have received and failed to report to the IRS over $1.2 million in fee income. Katz plead guilty to felony obstruction and tax evasion.
The counts in Katz’s complaint seek welfare and pension benefits pursuant to the Employment Retirement Income Security Act based on the alleged misclassification of Katz as an independent contractor instead of as an employee. The defendants in the action also include the NFL and FIN Associates LTD, which is described as an entity affiliated with the Dolphins that paid out some of Katz’s salary during the years he worked with the team.
The complaint was filed in the Southern District of Florida on December 31, 2020, and Katz is represented by the Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based law firm of Mansfield Bronstein & Stone, LLP. The Dolphins declined a request for comment on the allegations.
Darren Heitner is the founder of Heitner Legal. He is the author of How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, published by the American Bar Association, and is an adjunct professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. You can reach him by email at heitner@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @DarrenHeitner.