Author Topic: ECCC Being Sued Over Unpaid Volunteers  (Read 9947 times)

Offline hikanteki

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Re: ECCC Being Sued Over Unpaid Volunteers
« Reply #15 on: April 17, 2017, 03:25:57 PM »
Bumping this back up. Since last year we've seen both Phoenix Comicon and Silicon Valley Comic Con move to a paid model.

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Also, a couple things about the ECCC situation that come to mind:

ECCC began paying their volunteers in 2016 after ReedPop took over. This could be why the guest lineup was so poor that year; badges were the same price as the previous year, but they had to spend a lot more of their money on paid staff and had less money to book guests.

Also, this is pure speculation but I wonder if this is what prompted ECCC to sell to ReedPop. Although the lawsuit was not until 2016, they could have seen it coming and sold in order to preserve the convention. Having to pay back volunteers for all previous years could have bankrupted Eitane Emerald Corp (the owner of ECCC before ReedPop.)
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Offline Transmute Jun

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Re: ECCC Being Sued Over Unpaid Volunteers
« Reply #16 on: April 17, 2017, 03:29:13 PM »
As an aside, I was at Walker Stalker in San Francisco this past weekend, and talked to some of the staff. They told me they were all paid, and that there were no 'volunteers', and said there was a California law requiring it.

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Re: ECCC Being Sued Over Unpaid Volunteers
« Reply #17 on: Today at 04:19:49 PM »

Offline Mel

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Re: ECCC Being Sued Over Unpaid Volunteers
« Reply #17 on: April 17, 2017, 08:08:28 PM »
I'm guessing many state laws prevent for-profit companies from soliciting unpaid workers. I believe CCI avoids this b/c they are a non-profit.
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Offline AzT

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Re: ECCC Being Sued Over Unpaid Volunteers
« Reply #18 on: June 27, 2017, 07:47:28 AM »
Update -- settlement:

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Quote
A settlement has been reached in the class action lawsuit between volunteers for Emerald City Comicon and Eitane Emerald Corp. and members of the Demonakos family, according to documents provided by the plaintiffs’ law firm.  The settlement provides for a payment of $493,227.84 to the volunteers and the attorneys representing the class.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the class by former volunteer Jerry Michael Brooks in May of 2016 (see “Conventions the Next Class Action Lawsuit Target”), alleging that volunteers were not paid for their time and asked for double the back wages, interest, costs, and fees.  The class was estimated as at least 250 people who had volunteered in 2014 and 2015.

Attorneys will receive $123,300, the lead plaintiff will receive $5000 as an incentive award, after a few other costs, the remainder of the $493, 227.84 will be divided among the volunteers that respond to the notice based on their hours as a percentage of the total to be compensated.  The payments to volunteers will be considered half wages for hours worked, and half settlements for not previously paying wages.

Past volunteers will be contacted using the last email addresses available land through the social media accounts used to recruit volunteers.

The defendants, Eitane Emerald and the Demonakos family members, do not admit liability and “deny any wrongdoing or legal liability arising out of any of the facts of conduct alleged in this case.”   There was no ruling by the court on the claims; the settlement eliminates the need for a trial.

ReedPOP acquired Emerald City Comicon in 2015 and took over operations in 2016 (see “ReedPOP Acquires Emerald City”); it was not involved in this litigation. 

Offline Transmute Jun

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Re: ECCC Being Sued Over Unpaid Volunteers
« Reply #19 on: June 27, 2017, 08:32:43 AM »
Interesting. I don't really blame ReedPop/ECCC. It is odd that this was never an issue before, and every con across the country was using 'unpaid' volunteers. IMHO, the volunteers knew that they were not getting paid and that their compensation would be a t-shirt and a free badge. They were okay with that.

But the legal ramifications of ECCC having to settle and pay out are huge. Every con is going to have to sit up and take notice, and most will have to change their mode of operation (except for the few, like the CCI cons, who are run by non-profits).

Online marcia29

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Re: ECCC Being Sued Over Unpaid Volunteers
« Reply #20 on: June 28, 2017, 02:29:57 PM »
I wonder how soon we will see differences in other 'for-profit' conventions--especially the larger ones. 
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Offline Transmute Jun

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Re: ECCC Being Sued Over Unpaid Volunteers
« Reply #21 on: June 28, 2017, 02:41:40 PM »
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I wonder how soon we will see differences in other 'for-profit' conventions--especially the larger ones.

I believe a few cons, such as Phoenix, have already changed the way they deal with volunteers.

Offline hikanteki

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Re: ECCC Being Sued Over Unpaid Volunteers
« Reply #22 on: June 28, 2017, 03:12:10 PM »
I wonder why some of these conventions don't just reorganize as non-profits. It seems like they fulfill the same mission as SDCC, Denver, etc.
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Offline superkatchick

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Re: ECCC Being Sued Over Unpaid Volunteers
« Reply #23 on: June 28, 2017, 04:56:54 PM »
This is a really interesting topic that could definitely change the Con landscape. I just hope this doesn't hurt smaller conventions as I know several people who volunteer at Cons in my area just because they love it and it's become as much of their Con experience as Cosplay may be for someone else. Sometimes the cost of the badge/t-shirt/misc swag/food is worth more than any hourly wage they'd get for the hours they donate their time so with the exception of organizations that take advantage and overschedule their volunteers I think it might dissuade a fan from "working" the event and we are gonna end up with a bunch people who could care less about the Con and that are just there for the (I'm guessing) mediocre paycheck. I totally understand paying those who work for the Con year round but where is the line, we have a few Cons that compensate cosplayers with badges to go around and promote them at local events guessing they'd fall into this category as well?!

Offline hikanteki

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Re: ECCC Being Sued Over Unpaid Volunteers
« Reply #24 on: June 28, 2017, 05:23:57 PM »
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This is a really interesting topic that could definitely change the Con landscape. I just hope this doesn't hurt smaller conventions as I know several people who volunteer at Cons in my area just because they love it and it's become as much of their Con experience as Cosplay may be for someone else. Sometimes the cost of the badge/t-shirt/misc swag/food is worth more than any hourly wage they'd get for the hours they donate their time so with the exception of organizations that take advantage and overschedule their volunteers I think it might dissuade a fan from "working" the event and we are gonna end up with a bunch people who could care less about the Con and that are just there for the (I'm guessing) mediocre paycheck. I totally understand paying those who work for the Con year round but where is the line, we have a few Cons that compensate cosplayers with badges to go around and promote them at local events guessing they'd fall into this category as well?!

The libertarian side of me is upset that ECCC (and possibly other conventions) is being sued for unpaid labor when it was agreed upon by all parties. But I still have to recommend that the convention be aware of and follow the laws, and I do think that minimum wage laws exist for a good reason.

I will say though, that (at least in this area) a "mediocre paycheck" (min. wage) is not going to be an incentive for anyone to volunteer/work a convention who wouldn't otherwise be interested.
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Online marcia29

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Re: ECCC Being Sued Over Unpaid Volunteers
« Reply #25 on: June 29, 2017, 06:31:39 AM »
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I will say though, that (at least in this area) a "mediocre paycheck" (min. wage) is not going to be an incentive for anyone to volunteer/work a convention who wouldn't otherwise be interested.

Hmmm...I wonder if paying a minimum wage will encourage people who just want a few dollars to work for conventions? 
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Offline chocolateshake

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Re: ECCC Being Sued Over Unpaid Volunteers
« Reply #26 on: June 29, 2017, 09:43:52 AM »
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As an aside, I was at Walker Stalker in San Francisco this past weekend, and talked to some of the staff. They told me they were all paid, and that there were no 'volunteers', and said there was a California law requiring it.

I wonder when they started that.  The last time there was Walker Stalker at Comic Con, I was a volunteer.

Offline hikanteki

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Re: ECCC Being Sued Over Unpaid Volunteers
« Reply #27 on: June 29, 2017, 12:45:08 PM »
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I wonder when they started that.  The last time there was Walker Stalker at Comic Con, I was a volunteer.

Which state was it in? The volunteer/paid laws can vary by state.
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Online marcia29

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Re: ECCC Being Sued Over Unpaid Volunteers
« Reply #28 on: June 29, 2017, 02:34:18 PM »
Pay may also vary according to experience, etc.  If it has to happen, I am trying to look at it this way--more people who want to work in the convention arena, may be able to make it a career, or at least be paid more for their experience and expertise.
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Offline Iris

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Re: ECCC Being Sued Over Unpaid Volunteers
« Reply #29 on: June 30, 2017, 06:17:55 AM »
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Which state was it in? The volunteer/paid laws can vary by state.

It was Washington, and yes volunteer/labor/employment laws can vary heavily by state.

I actually typed this up a few days ago in response to this topic, re: California law on the topic. I didn't post it, obviously. But I'll do it now as the conversation has started, and trim it down because I saved what I wrote. I'm going to Spoiler this because it still ended up huge and you may want to skip that. Keep in mind, I'm a paralegal, not an attorney, I'm not giving you any actual legal advice, I'm just pulling up some codes and thinking about some important bullet points I'd consider if I were summarizing some things for my boss, which I'd do a quick search on (which this was extremely quick) for him to then determine yea or nay etc.

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For good measure I also drew up the Federal definition from: 29 CFR §553.101 2001.:
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Of course, an important part of the importance of the Federal is “(b) Congress did not intend to discourage or impede volunteer activities undertaken for civic, charitable, or humanitarian purposes, but expressed its wish to prevent any manipulation or abuse of minimum wage or overtime requirements through coercion or undue pressure upon individuals to “volunteer” their services.”


So I can't say whether or not the volunteers with CCI would ever be considered employees/etc., especially as I didn't look into actual caselaw because I don't have access to extended research too easily on my personal computer, or can't even think that this won't have effect on other conventions, specifically SDCC. Conventions might just try to cover all the bases in the future, from this. I think it will definitely affect other conventions in Washington, particularly for-profit ones. A settlement is usually what I would take as a sign (especially for a for-profit company) they were worried about getting further expenses that they would be on the hook for as well as a "quick" settlement, then again tons of settlements happen just to make people stop talking about an active lawsuit against their company. If other volunteers at other conventions (especially in Washington) see it, who knows. Or even other states.
« Last Edit: June 30, 2017, 06:21:16 AM by Iris_aya »
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