In Panzer v. Yelp, plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California alleging they should be compensated for their work as writers and editors of online reviews on Yelp, and that they were improperly classified as volunteers. Plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and a class purporting to number thousands of other volunteer contributors, allege that Yelp controlled the quality and quantity of their work, and that their work (developing content for the Yelp website) was integral to Yelp's business operating a website containing reviews of businesses such as restaurants and the like. Volunteers were rewarded with recognition such as "Reviewer of the Day," titles such as "Duke/Duchess" and "King/Queen," and membership in an "Elite Squad." However, plaintiffs allege that they were entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
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