A lawsuit brought against the Bohemian Club has revealed the inner workings of one of America's most secretive clubs, headquartered in San Francisco. Three valets who worked for years at the private club's infamous summer camp at Monte Rio in Sonoma County brought the complaint. The complaint alleges a litany of unlawful labor practices at Bohemian Grove, including "nonstop" 16-hour work days, during which employees were not provided bathroom and lunch breaks, and a failure to pay minimum wage and overtime. Every summer for 150 years, a 2,700-acre clearing in the ancient redwoods near the Russian River becomes a gathering place for the world's elite. The Bohemian Club's summer camp is shrouded in mystery but is rumored to end with a ritual that involves a human effigy and the burning of a giant sacrificial owl. The all-male club has successfully kept much of its activity, and its member list, secret over the years, but the new complaint, filed with the U.S. District Court in Northern California on June 6, shines a light on how the camp allegedly operates. The lawsuit claims that the camp hosts three events every year: the Spring Jinx, the Spring Picnic and the Summer Encampment. Bohemian Grove itself is split into over 100 separate camps. The camp's operations are so secretive the plaintiffs in the case don't yet know exactly whom they are accusing, instead referring to some of the defendants as John Doe.
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