Nonprofit organizations depend heavily upon their
volunteers. What if a court were to hold that volunteers were
in fact employees entitled to minimum and overtime wages,
meal and rest breaks, wage statements and other benefits required
by law? The impact of such a ruling would likely result in
the demise of many nonprofit organizations and their
programs.
Ms. Laurie Woods worked as a volunteer for the American Film
Institute for four days. She later filed a putative class
action against the AFI contending that she and other volunteers
were actually employees. While Ms. Woods did not
dispute that some nonprofit organizations may
use volunteer labor, she argued that only organization dedicated to
helping the poor or the "needy or suffering" could do
so. The Court of Appeal disagreed finding that her position
lacked "any legal support or policy
justification". Woods v. American Film
Institute, 2021 Cal. App. LEXIS 1061.
