Volunteer Employees: Sixth Circuit Says It Could Happen
By Earlier this month, the Sixth Circuit issued a decision that could convert unpaid volunteers into employees. In Bryson v. Middlefield Volunteer Fire. Dept., Inc., the Court held that, under Title VII, there is no requirement that a worker receive “significant renumeration” before being considered an employee. — F.3d. —, 2011 WL 3873789, *5-6 (6th Cir. Sept. 2, 2011). Instead, compensation is only one of a number of factors that should inform that determination. Id.
The plaintiff in Bryson was a volunteer fire-fighter and administrative assistant for the area’s fire department. She claimed that, while she worked there, she was subjected to a sexually hostile work environment, promised increased benefits in exchange for sexual favors, and that she was later constructively discharged for complaining about her treatment. Id. at *1-2. In its Motion for Summary Judgment, the fire department asserted that it was not an “employer” under Title VII because it did not have 15 or more “employees.” Id. at *2. Although the fire department admittedly employed 8 workers, it maintained that the remainder of its personnel — all volunteer fire-fighters — were not “employees” under the law, and the District Court agreed. Id. at *2, *5. Applying the Second Circuit’s two-tier test, the trial court ruled that — before considering the common law agency factors required by the Supreme Court in Cmty. for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid, 490 U.S. 730, 751-52 (1989) — the plaintiff had to prove that at least 15 workers received “significant renumeration” from their employer. Bryson, supra at *5. Id. This required a showing that they were given “substantial benefits not merely incidental to the activity performed.” Id. Because the fire-fighters in question only received insurance coverage, worker’s compensation eligibility, occasional gift cards, personal use of the department’s facilities, and access to an emergency fund, the District Court held that the plaintiff failed to make that showing. Id. Her case was accordingly dismissed.
The Sixth Circuit disagreed with the District Court’s entire approach. Id. at *5-6. “[W]e decline to [hold] that a plaintiff must first demonstrate that she received significant renumeration” and, instead, “consider renumeration [only] as a factor when determining whether an employment relationship exists.” Id. (emphasis added). The Court reiterated that the Supreme Court’s decision in Reid made clear that “no one factor, including renumeration, is decisive, and therefore no one factor is an independent antecedent requirement” to an employment relationship. Id. at *6. Because the District Court failed to take into account any of the other agency factors relevant to that determination, its ruling was reversed and remanded. Id.
The impact of this decision, at least in this Circuit, appears immense. Volunteer organizations must mind the particulars of their relationships with volunteers, obtain accurate acknowledgments of their status, and nevertheless treat them with the same respect, fairness and equality that would be afforded to their own employees. No doubt, volunteers still have an uphill battle to prove their claims in court, but the Sixth Circuit has given them a way to do so. Harassment cases are the most likely battleground, as a volunteer could still recover significant compensatory and punitive damages despite suffering little to no economic loss. This is a decision that accordingly needs to be on every volunteer organization’s radar.
Previous Post