New CA Employment Case: Who is a volunteer, and who is an attorney?

New California Employment Case


Who is a volunteer and who is an employee? 

The Court of Appeal addressed this issue last month. Below is my one-paragraph case summary from my online publication California Case Summaries™: 

Spilman v. The Salvation Army (2026) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2026 WL 35953: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s order granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment in plaintiff’s action alleging wage and hour issues. The trial court granted summary judgment for defendant, holding California’s wage-and-hour laws did not apply because plaintiffs, who performed full-time “work therapy” while enrolled in defendant’s six-month residential substance-abuse rehabilitation program, were volunteers rather than employees due to the absence of any express or implied agreement for compensation. The Court of Appeal disagreed and reversed, holding that while nonprofit volunteers can fall outside the wage laws, the trial court had applied the wrong standard. When the question is whether a nonprofit organization has properly classified a worker as an unpaid volunteer rather than an employee, the nonprofit must establish that (1) the worker freely agreed to work for the nonprofit to obtain a personal or charitable benefit, rather than for compensation, and (2) overall, the nonprofit organization’s use of the volunteer labor is not a subterfuge to evade the wage laws. (C.A. 1st, January 6, 2026.)

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Mediation, Arbitration & Referee Services

Monty McIntyre helps attorneys and their clients throughout California as a mediator, arbitrator and referee at ADR Services, Inc. He handle business, commercial, employment, insurance (bad faith, coverage, UIM), probate, real property, and tort cases. He has been a California civil trial lawyer since 1980, a member of ABOTA since 1995, has tried over 100 cases and he's represented both plaintiffs and defendants in the areas listed above. To schedule a new matter, please contact one of Monty's case managers at ADR services, Inc.:
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Do well and be well.  

Best regards,
Monty A. McIntyre, Esq.
Mediator, Arbitrator & Referee at ADR Services, Inc.
Trial Mentoring™: Trial training and preparation
Podcaster: Trial Alchemy™
Publisher: California Case Summaries™
CA Civil Trial Attorney Since 1980
ABOTA Member Since 1995
Past President San Diego County Bar Assn., SD ABOTA Chapter
Phone: (619) 990-4312.
Email: [email protected]