Probably the most frustrating thing I deal with as an Illinois workers’ compensation attorney is that I constantly get called by workers who are being taken advantage of by their employer. By far the most common example is with truck drivers.
There are hundreds of trucking companies in the Chicagoland area. Some have just a couple of trucks, others have 100 or more. Some are on the up and up, but way too many of these companies break the law. They do it by calling the drivers 1099 independent contractors. Some even make the drivers sign a contract that says they are contractors. They then turn around and prevent the driver from working for anyone else. They also do not allow them to turn down work. They provide the truck, tell them where to go, give them specific instructions related to the cargo, etc.
In other words, these drivers are treated like employees in every sense of the word. But the shady company tries to get around Illinois work comp laws by having them agree that they are contractors.
The good news is that under Illinois law, if you get hurt while working and can prove that your employer had control over you, you can still get work comp benefits. The biggest hurdle is a lot of them do not carry insurance which is a felony.
So What Does This Have To Do With Big 10 Athletics?
The reason I bring this up is I read an article in The Athletic about paying football players and the transfer portal. If you are not familiar, college athletes can now receive pay for their play and can usually transfer from one school to another without any penalty.
As part of this process, some of these kids are getting really big money. We are talking millions. Others are getting a few thousand. They also, of course, get the compensation of whatever their scholarship is worth.
As part of these revenue sharing agreements that provide these players with compensation, they are forced to sign contracts that call for penalties if they try to change schools. The Big 10 also reportedly has the following clause in their agreements with athletes:
“the Athlete is not, and shall not claim to be, an employee of the Institution,” and that the compensation is “not provided in exchange for the Athlete’s commitment to attend the Institution or participate in the Institution’s Program (i.e., not ‘Pay-for-Play’).”
The schools are claiming that these are not employment contracts, but rather licenses to the player’s rights for their name, image and likeness (“NIL”). They at the same time state that this binds the athlete to play for their school and not leave for another school.
This, to me, is not much different than how truck drivers are treated. The school tells you where to practice, where to play, supplies the equipment and if you have ever talked to a college athlete, they control almost every facet of your week. Does that sound like an “independent contractor” to you? It does not to me.
The biggest reason schools do this is because athletes get injured all of the time. The nature of sports results in a ton of injuries. If the athletes were legally declared to be employees, then they would also be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. That means that almost every athlete would be eligible for some sort of settlement, with many of those worth hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.
I have long argued that college athletes are employees. And that was before these restrictive contracts and additional compensation existed. In 2026, there is no way to legitimately argue that these athletes are not employees. Nobody would say that coaches are not employees. Pretending the players are not is just wishful thinking that takes away rights they legally have.
Someday, hopefully soon, a college athlete is going to file for work comp benefits against Northwestern, Illinois, NIU or some other school. And if the law is fairly applied, they should win.
