A federal labor agency has issued a formal complaint against Sean Penn's disaster relief group after the actor accused employees who spoke out about long hours and poor meal options of 'broad betrayal' and encouraged them to stay silent or quit.
The National Labor Relations Board issued the complaint on October 25, almost nine months after a lawyer pointed the agency to a blistering letter Penn sent his workers.
In January, two people claiming to work for the Community Organized Relief Effort, or CORE, challenged the company line in the comments section of a New York Times article about a vaccination drive at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles.
One of the alleged workers - whose identities have not been verified - complained about 18 hour work days and a lack of restrooms, prompting Penn to hit back: 'Any of us who might find themselves predisposed to a culture of complaint, have a much simpler avenue than broad-based cyber whining. It’s called quitting.'
A lawyer for CORE says the NLRB complaint has an 'utter lack of legal merit.'
The agency was tipped off in February by labor lawyer Daniel B. Rojas, who called Penn's attempt to stifle dissent 'unlawful.' An administrative hearing is set for January.
The nonprofit CORE is being charged with making 'coercive statements' to employees. Above, founder Sean Penn and LA Mayor Eric Garcetti during a vaccination drive in January
The actor, 61, told employees to quit rather than complain openly and charged some with 'broad betrayal' for speaking out about long work hours and lack of food and restrooms
People claiming to be employees commented under a New York Times story, complaining about four or five hour waits and other issues
The fallout began with the vaccination event at Dodger Stadium led by the Los Angeles Fire Department with assistance from CORE, a crisis response organization founded by Penn, 61, after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
A January 28 New York Times article described a bustling scene as Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti helps manage the long queues, where people waited as long as four or five hours for their first COVID-19 shot.
The story claimed 'there is Krispy Kreme for breakfast and Subway for lunch.'
But a comment by 'staff #2' took issue with the claim.
'We do NOT get krispy kreme for breakfast. In fact, we usually DON'T get breakfast, just coffee. And the lunch is NOT subway. It's the same old lettuce wraps every day. It's free lunch for staff/volunteers so I'm not complaining but still... not subway,' the person wrote.
Another comment written by 'CORE staff' complained about working '18 hour days, 6 days a week' without any backup.
The first comment, written by 'staff #2', took issue with workers being given the 'same old lettuce wraps' for lunch every day
The second comment, written by 'CORE staff', contained complaints about working '18 hour days, 6 days a week' without any backup
'It exists because the mayor ordered that we transition from a test site to a vaccination site in less than a week. If we had more time to transition, we wouldn't have staff working these hours without the opportunity to take breaks - they are schedulers and are essential to the function of the site.
'Without them, we wouldn't be vaccinating. The mayor more or less ordered an OSHA violation. There is a shipping container on site that is a designated space for overworked staff to go cry in. If you're not let into this shipping container, it's because staff are crying inside. Garcetti created these conditions and looks like a hero for it.'
The NYT article said staff and volunteers doled out 7,730 doses in nearly 15 hours.
The NLRB was tipped off by Los Angeles-based labor layer Daniel B. Rojas, who called Penn's follow-up statements 'unlawful'
Penn shot back in a lengthy email to staff the very next day, which was soon leaked to the media.
'The responsibility for any additional work hours requested of CORE staff falls squarely at my feet, and not because I "ordered" it,' Penn wrote, rebutting charges that Mayor Garcetti had
