LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A professional tennis and pickleball player is suing Major League Pickleball Inc., alleging she was fired earlier this year for complaining about not receiving timely wages even though she performed all her obligations under the parties’ contract.
Rianna Valdes’ Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges fraud, wrongful termination, breach of contract, failure to pay wages and wrongful business practices. Valdes seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
An MLP representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought Wednesday.
MLP was formed in 2021 and has about 100 top-ranked professional players and features 22 hometown teams across two levels, premier and challenger. Premier Level is home to the top 48 players drafted, while the challenger Level highlights the next group of 40 players aspiring to become pro pickleball’s next stars.
MLP began offering lucrative contracts to professional players such as Valdes, to grow its professional player roster, the suit states. MLP offers the same employment contract to each player, but requires them to execute an exclusive contract which misclassifies each as independent contractors, according to the complaint.
Valdes, 28, and MLP signed a contract on August 2023 for annual pay of $150,000 in 2024-26 in which she agreed, among other things, to take part in MLP-hosted events and obtain permission to participate in non-MLP play, the suit states.
Valdes also was required to promote MLP during the contract term and get approval for third-party endorsements, the suit further states.
MLP was late in paying Valdes’ monthly $12,500 checks earlier this year and when she complained, the organization sent her a letter stating she failed to attend “any required event” without being specific, the suit states.
Valdes continued to ask for unpaid wages and in July, MLP sent her a termination notice while still not honoring her money demands, the suit states.
Valdes alleges that MLP’s true motive in firing her was financially motivated because the organization was cashing out its player contracts due to financial problems.
“When Valdes refused to accept a lowball offer to buy her agreement, she received a letter terminating her agreement,” according to the suit, which further states that the plaintiff is entitled to pursue her claims in court because MLP refused to take part in arbitration.
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