![]() ![]() Sure, these festival “volunteers” signed up knowing that they would not be paid – but take a look at who they were “volunteering” for. Federal labor law defines a volunteer as an individual who “ performs hours of service for a public agency for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons, without promise, expectation or receipt of compensation for services rendered,” and states that employees cannot volunteer services to for-profit, private sector employers. The lawsuit claims Insomniac is taking advantage of volunteers’ love for music, “leveraging their eagerness to attend these events against their willingness to work for free.” The Legal Issues Despite the fact that Insomniac’s events are “lucrative, for-profit operations,” the company staffs its events largely by recruiting unpaid volunteers, according to the suit. ![]() Insomniac, according to the New York Times, is “the biggest promoter of electronic dance music in the country” and, in 2011, grossed $60 million in ticket sales for a single event. Insomniac is Exploiting Music Lovers for Free Labor. The suit claims that not only did these volunteers receive no wages for carrying out the work of paid employees, they also, in some cases, were forced to pay Insomniac to work for them because the company could keep their deposits. According to the suit, Insomniac held $89.90 for one to five days after the event to “ensure she completed her ‘duties’ and behaved appropriately during her volunteers hours.” She also had to leave her driver’s license for Insomniac to hold when she arrived at the volunteer parking lot. Valladares claims she was required to submit her credit card information when registering for Nocturnal Wonderland. According to the lawsuit, Insomniac holds a “deposit fee,” which will be charged to volunteers’ credit cards if they do not perform their duties to Insomniac’s satisfaction. While this may not be true of every volunteer, it was Valladares’ experience – and the belief that others may have had similar experiences – that led the attorneys to file the case. The lawsuit describes the volunteers’ “free” admissions as “highly overstated and essentially worthless,” as they spent most of their time working for Insomniac. According to the suit, Valladares spent the entire time at the festival in the general store, except when taking a single meal break, and had no time off to enjoy the festival. She was assigned to the general store, where she helped concertgoers purchase glow sticks, candy, cigarettes and other items. to Insomniac’s Nocturnal Wonderland and completed her shift at 2:30 a.m. Plaintiff Elizabeth Valladares says she arrived at 12:30 p.m. Sounds good in theory, but the suit claims Insomniac never delivered on its promises. No Real “Quid Pro Quo.” Insomniac allegedly told its volunteers: you help out at a festival and, in exchange, you’ll have time to enjoy some live music. ![]() So why is one volunteer now suing Insomniac – a company that gave her free festival admission – for back wages? Employee misclassification is one of the leading labor abuses in the country. After all, these people willingly signed up as volunteers – and this means they knew they weren’t going to be paid for their time. We’ve noticed that some former volunteers of the events may be confused as to why this suit was filed – and why it has merit. Last month, Live Nation and Insomniac were hit with a putative class action lawsuit alleging the companies broke federal and California labor laws when they recruited unpaid volunteers for their music festivals. ![]()
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