The National Labor Relations Board's Los Angeles region ruled in favor of USC football and basketball players seeking legal employment recognition, per Daniel Libit of Sportico.
The National College Players Association filed an unfair labor practice charge against USC, the Pac-12 and the NCAA on behalf of the athletes, and the NLRB found "merit" in it in Thursday's ruling.
NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo said in a statement that all three bodies have "maintained unlawful rules and unlawfully misclassified scholarship basketball and football players as mere 'student-athletes' rather than employees entitled to protections under our law.