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Salvation Army Hit With Three Lawsuits Alleging Wage Violations


Last week, three lawsuits were filed against Salvation Army with the claimants alleging the company violated federal and state wage laws by failing to pay a minimum wage rate to thousands of people that lived or worked at Salvation Army’s adult rehabilitation centers around the country.  (Salvation Army operates about 120 rehabilitation centers around the country, which are separated into four regions.  Participants that are part of these Salvation Army rehabilitation centers often suffer from substance abuse, homelessness, and other life obstacles.)

The lawsuits allege that thousands of people at these rehabilitation centers were required to perform “work therapy” in which they worked at least 40 hours each week in one of Salvation Army’s thrift store locations.  While the lawsuits claim that Salvation Army provided sleeping arrangements, food donated by third parties, and donated clothing, these benefits coupled with the pay were far below required wage rates.  (Salvation Army apparently paid as little as $1/week with wages increasing up to $21/week.  Salvation Army is alleged to have also required these people to turn over any SNAP benefits.)

While the three lawsuits were recently filed in Georgia, Illinois, and New York, Salvation Army announced it would not comment on any pending litigation.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming months.


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