Volume 12, Issue 09
The PEACEKEEPER
Page 7
From the JAG’s Desk
CMDR
Jeffrey
Triz
Ship’s
JAG
Stupid Lawsuits
In my me working in the law o?ce, I have seen some really dumb and stupid things in our legal system, but
these just take the cake (at least in my book):
“VOLUNTEER” SUES FOR WAGES
Joining unpaid interns, volunteers are the latest addi on to the class of workers to seek unpaid
wages – despite the fact that they possess no expectaon of compensa on at the me that they render services. A poten al class ac on lawsuit ?led last month
by a volunteer against Major League Baseball (“MLB”)
in New York federal court – Chen v Major League Base?
ball– sets the stage for this latest ba leground.
How Does the FLSA Treat “Volunteers?”
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”)
exempts individuals who volunteer to provide services, so long as: (i) the individual does not receive, nor expect to receive, any compensa on in considera on for
his/her services (although the individual may collect paid expenses, reasonable bene?ts, or a nominal fee); (ii) the
individual possesses a civic, charitable, or humanitarian purpose for providing the services; (iii) the services are provided without pressure or coercion; and (iv) the services rendered are not the same type of services rendered by the
individual in his/her capacity as an employee of the same en ty.
Although the term’s precise parameters remain somewhat blurred, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) has
proclaimed that an individual may not render services on a volunteer basis to a for-pro?t ins tu on. Indeed, according to the DOL’s formula on, only “public agencies” may engage the services of a volunteer.
The Lawsuit Against MLB
For many years, the volunteer-related provisions of the FLSA, at least insofar as they concerned private, forpro?t employers, have largely evaded the purview of judicial inquiry. Not any more.
A complaint ?led by named plain ? John Chen against MLB seeks minimum wages and over me compensaon for a proposed class of poten ally 2,000 volunteers who rendered services at MLB’s July 2013 All-Star FanFest
events in and around New York City. The volunteers, who were required to submit to a background check and
a end a mandatory orienta on session, were simply provided with event-related
See STUPID continued on pg. 8