One of America’s most secretive clubs is facing a bombshell lawsuit from three former staffers, who claim they were subjected to a series of illegal labor violations while serving its elite membership.
Private society Bohemian Club has hosted billionaires, industry titans and government heavyweights on its two campuses for over 150 years, one in San Francisco and a retreat in Sonoma County named Bohemian Grove.
Three valets who worked at the Bohemian Grove estate during its infamous summer camps now claim they were forced to work ‘nonstop’ 16-hour shifts, during which they were allegedly not given bathroom or lunch breaks.
And despite its lucrative membership, the club also failed to pay its staff minimum wage and overtime, according to the lawsuit first reported by SFGATE.
The Bohemian Club has been hosting secretive retreats for America’s elites for over 150 years on the California coast. Pictured: The club’s San Francisco base
The club’s practices are shrouded in secrecy, and allegedly include bizarre rituals
[embedded content]The world’s elite have descended on the lavish California club’s summer camp for over 150 years, where the cloak-and-dagger retreat’s true colors have been shrouded in secrecy.
While its male-only membership is kept secret, notable attendees have included US Presidents, high-profile CEOs, and A-list celebrities.
Now, decades-old questions over the club’s practices may be answered with the new lawsuit.
The court filing claims that the club hosts three events every year – the Spring Jinx, the Spring Picnic, and the Summer Encampment.
With high society watching on, the summer conference is rumored to conclude with a bizarre ceremony involving a human effigy and the burning of a giant sacrificial owl.
For those distinguished enough to be invited onto the Sonoma County estate, attendees are divided onto over 100 separate clubs, with names including the Camels Camps, the Last Chance camps, and the Monastery Camp.
‘Monastery Camp is one of the most prestigious and well-known camps at Bohemian Grove,’ the lawsuit alleges.
‘Attendees include Bohemian Club members that are executives of Fortune 500 companies and prominent government officials.’
Membership joining fees are reported to top $25,000, and new recruits must be recommended by multiple current insiders before they are accepted into the ultra-exclusive club.
Members are said to perform plays and theater during the camps, pictured in 1934
Bohemian Grove members seen on the grounds during the Spring Jinx in June 2017
The club’s membership is a secret, but is known to have been populated by US presidents, CEOs and industry titans
The complaint filing claims that each camp is assigned a ‘captain’, who would allegedly subject staff to numerous labor law violations to cater to the rich and famous.
Bohemian Club treasurer Bill Dawson is reportedly singled out in the lawsuit, which accuses him of directing the valets to ‘falsify payroll records and to work off-the-clock’.
The document claims attendees would all be ‘aware’ valets would work ‘almost nonstop’ while they were on the grounds, taking little or no breaks.
During one Spring Jinx ‘Burgundy Lunch’, it is alleged four valets worked ‘nonstop for approximately 18 hours providing a two-course lunch and dinner to 90 guests.’
The inner workings of the club have long remained a mystery since its founding in 1872, but many historical moments are rumored to have ties to the society.
Richard Nixon’s 1968 presidential election campaign was said to have been launched at the camp. It was also allegedly the site of early discussions of the Manhattan Project with J. Robert Oppenheimer, which resulted in the US dropping two atomic bombs on Japan in World War Two.
Earlier this year, the club also made headlines as one of the sites Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas visited with Republican megadonor Harlan Crow.
The club has hosted numerous industry leaders from throughout history. Pictured (L-R) members Irvin S Cobb, author Charles Norris, and magazine editor Ray Long
An image taken during a Bohemian Grove camp in the early 1900s
The club’s wealthy members are rumored to let their hair down at the camp, including performing plays and musical theater.
And although its motto is ‘Weaving Spiders Come Not Here’ – a Shakespeare quote implying outside business is not encouraged – the club’s membership has routinely been a who’s who of power and wealth.
Wait times to become a member have been known to extend past thirty years, but once in, members find themselves in the heart of a billionaire’s playground.
One former Bohemian Grove resident told All That’s Interesting: ‘It’s honestly just a place where wealthy guys from San Francisco go to be drunk knuckleheads.
‘They burn firewood to stay warm and generally just host people from other camps or go visit people at other camps and provide entertainment.
‘A portion of the membership is dedicated to actual professional musicians, actors, artists, et cetera, so there’s great entertainment.’
Bohemian Grove member Jack London (right) pictured with other notable attendees in 1913
The entrance to Bohemian Grove encampment in Monte Rio, California
Also included in the lawsuit is a revealing text exchange between a valet and a captain that saw the valet allegedly admit his staff ‘are working so much without knowing what they are getting into’.
The lawsuit alleges numerous labor violations that saw staff paid ‘under the table’ at less than the hours they actually worked.
‘Employees were intimidated or coerced into waiving meal periods,’ the suit alleges, adding that workers were also not allowed to make phone calls over 30 minutes long, and not between 9am and 9pm.
In a telling detail over the camp’s highly secretive nature, the valets reportedly are not able to name all those they are accusing, with some referred to as ‘John Doe’.
The Bohemian Club does not provide a media contact, and the organization’s HR office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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