Salvation Army faces lawsuit over labor violations
A group of five former rehab participants have filed a class-action lawsuit against The Salvation Army, alleging they were not paid for work they performed at the venerated charity.
The Salvation Army is one of the largest providers of drug and alcohol rehabilitation in the United States. Participants typically do not have to pay for a place in the residential program. But once there, the main mode of treatment is what The Salvation Army calls “work therapy” at the charity’s thrift stores, which generate more than $598 million in annual sales.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in San Francisco Superior Court, alleges that the charity violated California labor laws by not treating the workers as employees and failing to pay them minimum wage and overtime. According to the complaint, the participants worked more than 40 hours a week in “physically grueling and sometimes dangerous” jobs. Some picked up donations and worked in warehouses and stores, where they sorted, priced and displayed clothing, linens, shoes, accessories and housewares. Others performed maintenance jobs, repaired goods or operated heavy machinery. In exchange, they received gratuities of between $1 and $25 per week or “canteen cards” they could use to buy soda, chips or other snacks at The Salvation Army canteen.
The program provides room and board to the participants but requires them to sign up for and then relinquish their food stamps, according to the complaint. It also provides other services, such as spiritual counseling, Bible study and recreational outings.
Read more: https://revealnews.org/article/salvation-army-faces-lawsuit-over-labor-violations/
(Center for Investigative Reporting)
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