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Jamaican Workers at Exclusive Montana Resort Reach $1 Million Wage Settlement

Macaron Lover

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Workers at Exclusive Montana Resort Reach $1 Million Wage Settlement​

A group of guest workers from Jamaica had accused the Yellowstone Club and Hospitality Staffing Solutions of shortchanging their wages and tips.

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The Yellowstone Club near Big Sky, Mont. Bill Gates and Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel have been identified as members who own property at the resort.Credit...Erik Petersen/Bozeman Daily Chronicle, via Associated Press

  • April 27, 2021
  • Dozens of guest workers from Jamaica have reached a $1 million settlement in a lawsuit that accused an exclusive Montana ski resort — home to business titans and Hollywood celebrities — of shortchanging their tips and wages and discriminating against them, court records show.
The private resort, the Yellowstone Club, counts boldface names as members, commanding six-figure initiation fees and millions for winter homes, according to real estate listings on the club’s website and reporting by The New York Times.

The club’s operating company will contribute $515,000 toward the settlement, which was approved on April 22 in U.S. District Court in Montana. The remaining $485,000 will be paid by Hospitality Staffing Solutions, the staffing agency that the lawsuit said had placed the guest workers at the resort as cooks, bartenders, servers and housekeepers for the winter of 2017-18.

Individual payments to the workers from the settlement range from less than $500 to more than $14,000, with lawyers’ fees and expenses accounting for about $273,000 of the $1 million, according to court records.

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As part of the settlement in the 2018 lawsuit, neither the club nor the staffing agency accepted liability.

The workers sued the club and the staffing agency in September 2018, accusing the resort of exploiting them because of their temporary visa status under a federal guest worker program.

The plaintiffs, all of whom are citizens of Jamaica and are Black, worked at the resort through the nonimmigrant H-2B visa program, which has been criticized as lacking protections for seasonal workers.

They said in the lawsuit that despite being promised that they could make $400 to $600 a night working in the resort’s best restaurants, they were deprived of their tips and service charges, and watched as other workers were treated better.

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Some of the approximately 90 guest workers had recalled that it was not unusual for them to wait on the club’s billionaire clientele, with one cook saying that he believed that he had prepared meals for Bill Gates, Microsoft’s co-founder; Warren E. Buffett, the chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway; and Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook C.E.O., according to the lawsuit.

The entertainer Justin Timberlake and his wife, Jessica Biel, have also been identified as owning a property at the club.

According to the lawsuit, the club and the staffing agency, which is based in Atlanta, blamed each other for the situation.

Representatives for the club said on Monday that the majority of the guest workers from Jamaica who were involved in the lawsuit had returned to the club the following winter, and that the resort had directly employed and managed guest workers since then.

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Before the coronavirus pandemic, the number of Jamaican guest workers at the club had tripled, according to the resort.

“We strive to be the workplace of choice in the region by providing permanent and seasonal team members with competitive wages, shift meals, housing opportunities, and more,” Hans Williamson, the club’s general manager, said in a statement on Monday. “These benefits have attracted a world-class work force that ranges from lifelong Montanans to employees from across the globe.”

A lawyer for Hospitality Staffing Solutions did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday night.

The members-only Yellowstone Club, set in the mountains near Big Sky, Mont., is also known as a destination for golfers. It is north of Yellowstone National Park.

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The workers were partly represented by Towards Justice, a nonprofit law firm based in Denver, which also did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Representatives for Mr. Gates, Mr. Buffett, Mr. Zuckerberg and Mr. Timberlake did not immediately respond to requests for comment late on Monday night.
 

TMZ1

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As someone of Jamaican descent, all I could think of was how COLD those poor Jamaicans were in teh Mountains of Montana. My second thought was how alienated they probably felt since the only black people they probably encountered were the other Jamaican coworkers.

This article really didnt outline how exactly they were wronged or I completely missed it.I feel like they left out a page or two. I feel know more about the celebrities who might have homes there than what all their hardships were.
I know they might have cooked for the boss and that other crew members were treated better than they were. I also know that many returned again the next season and worked again.

I definitely understood that at one point there were a LOT of Jamaicans working there. (not sure why they emphasized that)
 

Daria M

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This article really didnt outline how exactly they were wronged or I completely missed it.I feel like they left out a page or two. I feel know more about the celebrities who might have homes there than what all their hardships were.
I know they might have cooked for the boss and that other crew members were treated better than they were. I also know that many returned again the next season and worked again.

I definitely understood that at one point there were a LOT of Jamaicans working there. (not sure why they emphasized that)

The article does state how they were taken advantage of.
They said in the lawsuit that despite being promised that they could make $400 to $600 a night working in the resort’s best restaurants, they were deprived of their tips and service charges, and watched as other workers were treated better.

Anyways wish the workers got a larger settlement. White people taking advantage of minorities again. I wonder if they ever get tired being parasitic? Lol, at Justin Timberc*nt being linked to this surprise surprise.
 

Ilurkedforyears

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As someone of Jamaican descent, all I could think of was how COLD those poor Jamaicans were in teh Mountains of Montana. My second thought was how alienated they probably felt since the only black people they probably encountered were the other Jamaican coworkers.

This article really didnt outline how exactly they were wronged or I completely missed it.I feel like they left out a page or two. I feel know more about the celebrities who might have homes there than what all their hardships were.
I know they might have cooked for the boss and that other crew members were treated better than they were. I also know that many returned again the next season and worked again.

I definitely understood that at one point there were a LOT of Jamaicans working there. (not sure why they emphasized that)
I live in a state with Jamaican guest farm workers. They love it here and have everybody in the state talking about Jerk chicken.

Jamaicans are hard workers and are consistently traveling all over the world to make an honest living.
How in the world did they think they would get away wit teefin’ di people money? I could’ve told them JA’s don’t play when it comes to their money.
 

Haitian1

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As someone of Jamaican descent, all I could think of was how COLD those poor Jamaicans were in teh Mountains of Montana. My second thought was how alienated they probably felt since the only black people they probably encountered were the other Jamaican coworkers.

This article really didnt outline how exactly they were wronged or I completely missed it.I feel like they left out a page or two. I feel know more about the celebrities who might have homes there than what all their hardships were.
I know they might have cooked for the boss and that other crew members were treated better than they were. I also know that many returned again the next season and worked again.

I definitely understood that at one point there were a LOT of Jamaicans working there. (not sure why they emphasized that)
there are other Black people there lol I've been there and met Africans, Caribbeans, and African Americans
 

Haitian1

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This happens a lot to immigrants that work in hospitality and manufacturing all over America this the first time I ever heard of a group taking it this far and actually winning most are scared to speak up and just deal with it. In all the hotels and most of the restaurants, I've worked in they always paid the immigrants less and worked them harder, and if you were a woman expect to be xesually harassed by bosses and supervisors and get fired if you don't accept their advances.
 

Amanirenas

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They should have known better than to keep Jamaicans from their coins. A Jamaican will work hard as hell, but never for free.
 

LoLu10Plus

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This happens a lot to immigrants that work in hospitality and manufacturing all over America this the first time I ever heard of a group taking it this far and actually winning most are scared to speak up and just deal with it. In all the hotels and most of the restaurants, I've worked in they always paid the immigrants less and worked them harder, and if you were a woman expect to be xesually harassed by bosses and supervisors and get fired if you don't accept their advances.
It happens to a lot of immigrants, period. They’ll also promise the workers a certain wage before hand and renege on the previously settled wages once the immigrants arrive. Figuring that immigrants won’t or can’t do anything about it. It’s terrible and happens in a lot of countries.

I’m glad these workers sued, but they it doesn’t seem that they received what they Are owed. And it also doesn’t see, like these companies will change since no seems to be taking responsibility for stealing from these employees.
 

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