The California Court of Appeal has definitively resolved an issue that was until now somewhat ambiguous:  Can volunteers in fact volunteer their time for nonprofit organizations without receiving pay or other forms of compensation?  The answer is YES.  Woods v. American Film Institute, Case No. B307220 (Cal. Ct. App. Dec. 17, 2021).

Laurie Woods worked for four days as a volunteer at the American Film Institute’s (“AFI”) annual Film Festival in Los Angeles.  (AFI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating excellence and creating educational initiatives in film.)

After the Festival, Woods filed a putative class action against AFI for wage and hour violations, seeking compensation for unpaid wages and meal and rest breaks, arguing that she and other similarly situated volunteers were in fact employees. The trial court denied Woods’ motion for class certification on the ground that common questions would not predominate over individual issues for the claims that Woods sought to certify for class treatment. The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s ruling.

Woods argued that AFI is not the kind of nonprofit organization that is permitted to use volunteers under California law on the theory that only religious or charitable organizations dedicated to helping the poor, needy or suffering may enlist the support of unpaid volunteers. The Court of Appeal rejected Woods’ position:

Under Woods’ interpretation, local community theatre organizations, community orchestras, and other cultural nonprofit entities would be required to treat all their workers as employees, even if those workers were dedicated to the mission of the organization and wished to volunteer their time. Such a rule would have unforeseen and potentially devastating financial implications for such groups.

In light of this ruling, it is now clear in California that volunteers may donate their time and assistance to civic, charitable, and humanitarian nonprofit organizations without compensation or any other form of remuneration other than the satisfaction of supporting an organization they want to help.

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Photo of Tony Oncidi Tony Oncidi

Anthony J. Oncidi is the co-chair of the Labor & Employment Law Department and heads the West Coast Labor & Employment group in the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Tony represents employers and management in all aspects of labor relations and employment law, including…

Anthony J. Oncidi is the co-chair of the Labor & Employment Law Department and heads the West Coast Labor & Employment group in the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Tony represents employers and management in all aspects of labor relations and employment law, including litigation and preventive counseling, wage and hour matters, including class actions, wrongful termination, employee discipline, Title VII and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, executive employment contract disputes, sexual harassment training and investigations, workplace violence, drug testing and privacy issues, Sarbanes-Oxley claims and employee raiding and trade secret protection. A substantial portion of Tony’s practice involves the defense of employers in large class actions, employment discrimination, harassment and wrongful termination litigation in state and federal court as well as arbitration proceedings, including FINRA matters.

Tony is recognized as a leading lawyer by such highly respected publications and organizations as the Los Angeles Daily JournalThe Hollywood Reporter, and Chambers USA, which gives him the highest possible rating (“Band 1”) for Labor & Employment.  According to Chambers USA, clients say Tony is “brilliant at what he does… He is even keeled, has a high emotional IQ, is a great legal writer and orator, and never gives up.” Other clients report:  “Tony has an outstanding reputation” and he is “smart, cost effective and appropriately aggressive.” Tony is hailed as “outstanding,” particularly for his “ability to merge top-shelf lawyerly advice with pragmatic business acumen.” He is highly respected in the industry, with other commentators lauding him as a “phenomenal strategist” and “one of the top employment litigators in the country.”

“Tony is the author of the treatise titled Employment Discrimination Depositions (Juris Pub’g 2020; www.jurispub.com), co-author of Proskauer on Privacy (PLI 2020), and, since 1990, has been a regular columnist for the official publication of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the State Bar of California and the Los Angeles Daily Journal.

Tony has been a featured guest on Fox 11 News and CBS News in Los Angeles. He has been interviewed and quoted by leading national media outlets such as The National Law JournalBloomberg News, The New York Times, and Newsweek and Time magazines. Tony is a frequent speaker on employment law topics for large and small groups of employers and their counsel, including the Society for Human Resource Management (“SHRM”), PIHRA, the National CLE Conference, National Business Institute, the Employment Round Table of Southern California (Board Member), the Council on Education in Management, the Institute for Corporate Counsel, the State Bar of California, the California Continuing Education of the Bar Program and the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills Bar Associations. He has testified as an expert witness regarding wage and hour issues as well as the California Fair Employment and Housing Act and has served as a faculty member of the National Employment Law Institute. He has served as an arbitrator in an employment discrimination matter.

Tony is an appointed Hearing Examiner for the Los Angeles Police Commission Board of Rights and has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law and a guest lecturer at USC Law School and a guest lecturer at UCLA Law School.

Photo of Sehreen Ladak Sehreen Ladak

Sehreen represents employers from a variety of industries in all aspects of employment litigation, including wage and hour, wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblower, and breach of contract litigation, in both the single-plaintiff and class-action context. She also counsels clients in a wide…

Sehreen represents employers from a variety of industries in all aspects of employment litigation, including wage and hour, wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblower, and breach of contract litigation, in both the single-plaintiff and class-action context. She also counsels clients in a wide range of labor and employment matters, including wage and hour issues, personnel policies and procedures, and employee discipline matters.

Sehreen earned her J.D. from USC Gould School of Law, where she was the Executive Submissions Editor of the Southern California Review of Law and Social Justice. During law school, she was also a student supervisor at the USC Immigration Clinic, and she served as a judicial extern to the Honorable Kathleen Mulligan in the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission.