Concert Volunteer Sues

Elizabeth Valladares seeks class-action status for the complaint, which has been moved from San Bernardino Superior Court, where the suit was initially filed March 7, to U.S. District Court in California’s Central District.

Valladares claims she volunteered to work at the Nocturnal Wonderland EDM festival in San Bernardino in September in exchange for free admission to the fest, only to find herself working a 14-hour day, “with no rest breaks and only one meal break.”

She further states that she was required to submit credit card information “presumably to ensure that she checked in for work.” An $89.90 “hold” was placed on her card.

According to the complaint, the value of the free admission was “highly overstated and essentially worthless, as volunteers spend the majority of their time performing duties under the direction and control of the Defendants.”

She adds that volunteers were not compensated for travel time, training meetings, or “base camp” events outside of the actual festival. Neither Insomniac nor Live Nation supplied itemized wage statements or kept accurate records of volunteer work hours or breaks, which the complaint alleges violates the federal FLSA as well as California Labor Code and standards set by the California Department of Industrial Relations, Industrial Welfare Commission and Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

Valladares accuses the companies of staffing such festivals largely with unpaid labor, saying they “engaged in a systematic scheme to misrepresent the nature of the relationship” as one between an organization and volunteers, rather than between employer and employee, “thus deceiving and defrauding members of the volunteer class into believing that they were not entitled to benefits and protections” of labor statutes.

The complaint, which seems to follow in the vein of a recent spate of lawsuits involving unpaid internships in the broader entertainment industry, includes 13 counts alleging various violation of fair labor standards; failure to pay minimum wage, overtime or wages owed upon termination; provide meal and rest breaks; and common fraud and deceit.

The suit proposes a class of all volunteers for Live Nation/Insomniac events for the last four years. Live Nation and Insomniac responded to the complaint April 10 and deny all charges, providing 28 separate affirmative defenses – including the lack of employment status of the plaintiffs, their lack of standing to file the suit, failure to mitigate damages, doctrine of consent and “willful conduct” of the volunteers, among others.

The suit seeks a declaration that Live Nation and Insomniac have violated FLSA, a finding of false advertising, payment of compensatory and other damages plus interest, wages and penalties for California class members, disgorgement of profits, and court and attorneys’ fees.