SF’s Bohemian Club to pay workers $7 million in settlement

Visitors listened to a ranger talk about the history of Muir Woods at Bohemian Grove Sunday February 15, 2015. Visitors listened to a ranger talk about the history of Muir Woods at Bohemian Grove Sunday February 15, 2015. Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close SF’s Bohemian Club to pay workers $7 million in settlement 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Members of the San Francisco-based Bohemian Club will pay $7 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleges workers at the club’s private, ultra-elite Bohemian Grove campground were victims of wage theft, officials said Friday.

San Francisco resident Jacob Horvat and Oakland resident Gabriel Martin were among more than 600 plaintiffs in the suit, which covered those who worked at the club’s 2,700-acre seasonal retreats in Monte Rio from May 28, 2011 through the end of 2014.

The suit alleges several valets regularly worked 16 to 18 hours a day — some more than seven days in a row — during the club’s two to three-week summer events. Then, workers were labeled “independent contractors” and reportedly not paid overtime, the suit says.

The settlement received preliminary approval in Sonoma County Superior Court from Judge Gary Nadler on Wednesday, and is slated to be finalized in September. Participants in the suit will receive payment proportionally based on how many days they worked during the contested period.

As a condition of the settlement, the Bohemian Club will admit to no wrongdoing, said Sam Singer, a spokesman for the corporation.

“The camps at the Bohemian Grove treat their valets very well. They are beloved members of the family. Many of them serve for generations at different camps within the grove,” he said. “Unfortunately, in the world of courtroom law, it takes more money to prove your innocence than it does to settle in cases like this.”

A confidentiality agreement limited the comments from both of the named plaintiffs and their attorney, Bree Ullman.

“The action has been resolved on the terms set forth in the stipulation that was publicly filed,” Ullman said.

The valet’s tasks varied from serving cocktails to elite guests to delivering newspapers, making coffee, scrubbing floors, moving beer kegs and performing a variety of other “labor intensive” work, the suit states.

The valets were on-call on a 24-hour basis, expected to adhere to a strict dress code, and told to refrain from certain conversations with guests. Workers were paid by check without wage statements, according to the complaint.

A valet who was a part of the class action suit said after Ullman began investigating labor law violations, workers were offered cash payments with hundreds of dollars in envelopes at the end of summer 2014 to quickly fix the issue.

He did not want his name released.

“These people, they have very high positions of power,” the former employee said. “Who knows what they might do?”

He said working conditions depended upon what camp employees worked in, and that he had no problem with his workload.

Valets worked in several camps at Bohemian Grove, clusters of fraternity-like houses with names like “Friends of the Forest,” “Valley of the Moon,” “Ye Merrie Yowls,” and “Hill Billies,” which former President George H.W. Bush is said to be a member of.

Bohemian Club, an exclusive male-only society of around 2,500 members, boasts big names like Bush, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and the Koch brothers.

Valets were providing service at the club’s annual events called Spring Jinks and Encampment, described by one official as “Burning Man for really powerful Republicans.”

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno