A volunteer on Andrew Yang’s presidential campaign sues for discrimination - The Verge

Andrew Yang’s lawyers are trying to get the case thrown out on the grounds that Erica Lee wasn’t a paid staffer. If they win, "any volunteer anywhere can be horrible sexually harassed," with no recourse, Lee’s lawyers say.

A volunteer on Andrew Yang’s 2020 presidential campaign is suing for discrimination and retaliation, alleging that after she spoke up about misogyny in campaign Facebook groups, she was denied opportunities for advancement. Now, Yang’s lawyers are trying to get the case thrown out, arguing that because the volunteer, Erica Lee, was never hired as a paid staffer, she doesn’t have the labor protections she’s claiming.

“If their argument prevails, any volunteer anywhere can be horrible sexually harassed, or the victim of horrible discrimination, and there would be no recourse,” says Lee’s lawyer, Vincent P. White. “I don’t know if anyone wants to live in that world. It’s a horrific world that they’re describing.”

Andrew Yang’s lawyers declined to respond on the record.

The case highlights the lack of labor rights that volunteers have in the United States. Today, only a handful of states, including California, Oregon, and New York, have laws that protect interns and volunteers from harassment and discrimination in the workplace. In politics, where volunteers make up the majority of the campaign workforce, the implications are that unpaid staffers often have no protections or legal recourse if they are harassed.

“Campaigns are hugely dependent on volunteers,” explains an administrator of the Twitter account Organizer Memes, who asked to remain anonymous. “They often fill positions that otherwise would require a full-time employee. Democratic campaigns couldn’t function without volunteers, so the idea that they shouldn’t be protected from harassment because they’re doing this out of the goodness of their heart is wild.”

https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/26/23279368/andrew-yang-2020-lawsuit-working-conditions-volunteers

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