Marathon, not a sprint
With the ever growing popularity of Marathons and half marathons in recent times, the debate over the categorization of whether workers of these events are considered volunteers or employees has also hit the ground running. In recent news, a federal judge in Missouri ruled against the “Competitor Group Inc” request to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that their use of volunteer workers violated federal labor laws. A St. Louis University law professor named Yvette Joy Liebesman was a volunteer worker at one of their races, and has stated that she was deceived into believing her participation was to benefit non-profit charities rather than a for profit private equity firm. In their attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed, “Competitor Group Inc” purported that their marathons represented recreational activities in conjunction with charities that would also benefit from these races being held. Arguments made by “CGI” were not persuasive enough to dismiss these charges, as the federal judge rules there was sufficient cause to move forward with these claims.
