December 22, 2021

Woods v. American Film Institute (Dec. 17, 2021, B307220)

Plaintiff sued American Film Institute (AFI), a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, claiming that she and other volunteers for AFI’s annual film festival were legally employees who were denied employee benefits including wages and meal breaks. The trial court found that AFI could lawfully use volunteer labor and that determining who might qualify as an “employee” would require individualized proof from each class member. The trial court consequently denied class certification on the ground that individual issues would predominate over common ones, and the Court of Appeal affirmed.

In affirming the trial court’s finding that potential class members who did not expect compensation were not employees, the Court of Appeal held that volunteers for nonprofit entities are generally not employees. The court found support in sections of the Labor Code that exclude volunteers and volunteer work for 501(c)(3) eligible organizations from prevailing wage laws, case law that excludes volunteers from the definition of “employee,” and the wage order governing worker protections in the film industry that suggests it applies only to paid workers. The court further relied on an opinion letter from the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) concluding that wage and hour protections do not apply to those who intend to volunteer for nonprofits without compensation.