Steven Greenhut: ‘Power Drunk’ Agency Slams Small Winery

In a story reported widely in northern
California last month, agents from the Department of
Industrial Relations showed up unannounced at the
tiny Westover Winery, in Castro Valley, and slapped its owners
with more than $115,000 in fines and assessments for using
volunteer workers. Westover is a typical hobby winery. A big winery
no doubt spills more than this East Bay winery produces. Its annual
profits are $11,000. Steven Greenhut talked to three of Westover’s
former volunteers. Volunteers typically are well-heeled retirees
with plenty of health insurance. “I have so much fun out here, I
should actually have to pay Bill,” said Ken Tatum, a retired
superintendent at the San Francisco shipyards. Unfortunately, owner
Bill Smyth tells Greenhut that he is financially well off and is
doing this for fun, so he’s decided to shut down rather than face
the not-so-fun prospect of fighting the state.

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