The Bohemian Club has responded to a lawsuit accusing the ultra-elite all-male private members club of numerous California labor law violations. These include allegations of workers being made to work 16-hour shifts or more without being provided rest breaks at its summer gathering — a two-week ceremony that ends with the burning of an effigy in front of a giant owl.
The case was brought by three former valets at the club’s infamous summer camp, Bohemian Grove, in Sonoma County, as SFGATE first reported earlier this week. The 151-year-old club, headquartered on Taylor Street in San Francisco, has now responded to the allegations.
“We are aware that a lawsuit has been filed by three individuals who were employed by one of camps in the Bohemian Grove making allegations about the manner in which they were paid in past years for their work at this particular camp,” spokesperson Sam Singer wrote in an email to SFGATE. “Although the Club has not been served with this lawsuit, we have reviewed the allegations and it is clear the claims appearing in the lawsuit are brought by individuals who were never employed by the Bohemian Club and therefore the Club should not be a party to this action.”
The three valets’ attorney, however, says the club is fully responsible for the working conditions at the camp.
“Bohemian Club is banking on a legal fiction that valets are not their employees, but instead work for third-party contractors,” Tony Nunes told SFGATE on Wednesday. “In reality,...
Field Marshal Lord Bramall, one of Britain’s greatest soldiers, was known affectionately to his grandchildren as “Papa”. Alex Bramall, his grandson, a fashion photographer, was particularly close ...