A new class action lawsuit against the NCAA and just about every Division 1 conference has been filed with former Florida Gators defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd taking the lead as a plaintiff. The class action suite was filed Friday and focuses on grants-in-aid for men and women student-athletes. Michael McCann of Sports Illustrated was first to report news about the lawsuit.
“Student athletes need to be respected more,” Floyd said in a statement shared via Twitter Friday. “It’s hard for great coaches to do their job when their athletes are just looking for something as simple as an extra meal, a movie date with a friend and comfort that they are gonna be taken care of and not taken advantage of.”
Some of the problems mentioned by Floyd have been addressed by the NCAA, such as allowing for unlimited snacks for student-athletes.
“Athletes shouldn’t be suspended for raising money, to better his life or for looking at a mentor as a father,” Floyd stated. Floyd also clarified he was not pursuing legal action against Florida, although the SEC is listed as a defendant in the lawsuit. The lawsuit also lists the Big Ten, Pac-12, Big 12, ACC, Atlantic Sun, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West Conference and the Sun Belt Conference in addition to the NCAA.
Floyd was once suspended by the NCAA for accepting improper benefits from his future adopted family in one of the more complicated situations regarding NCAA violations. Floyd missed two games in 2011 as a result of the violation.
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