More than seven weeks have passed since the A-list lineup of celebrities and athletes arrived at the Edgewood Tahoe golf course in Stateline, Nevada, to play for a $600,000 prize at the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship. And still, multiple people who were hired by a third-party contractor and worked at the tournament have not been paid, the Tahoe Daily Tribune reported earlier this week.
Daphne Hillyer told Tribune reporter Ashleigh Goodwin that she worked three shifts, each 10 to 12.5 hours long, during the celebrity golf tournament, which took place on July 6 through 10.
Hillyer told the Tribune she has not yet received a paycheck for her labor from MVP Event Staffing, a company that describes itself as “the nation’s premier provider of food and beverage staff for large-scale events.”
“We worked so hard for this company the weekend of the golf tournament and we are still not getting any response about our paychecks,” Hillyer told the Tribune. “We just want our paychecks.”
The 33rd annual golf tournament hosted more than 80 celebrities at Edgewood Tahoe Resort’s lakefront greens, which boast long views of Lake Tahoe and are located on the southeastern shoreline. Pop icon Justin Timberlake, Golden State Warriors player Steph Curry, Cal alum and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers were among the competitors playing. Tony Romo, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, won this year’s championship. After two years of limited attendance due to the pandemic, this year the tournament stands were fully open. The Tahoe Daily Tribune reported record attendance at this year’s tournament numbered 67,000 spectators.
“The people at Lake Tahoe are tremendous,” former NBA player Charles Barkley told an NBC sports journalist on the greens. “I love seeing all the celebrities. The fans are fantastic.”
The chance to see celebrities play golf was one of the reasons why some people signed up to work at the tournament.
“Being a big golf fan, and sports in general, I said that I would” work at the golf championship, Sean Lyman said to the Tahoe Daily Tribune. Lyman told the Tribune he had not been paid for his shifts by MVP Event Staffing. Lyman said he was approached by someone at MVP at a farmers market in Minden. The MVP representative asked if he wanted to work at the celebrity golf tournament. Lyman’s wife took time away from her job so she could watch their son while he worked at the golf tournament.
“And now I have nothing to show for it other than the tips I made,” Lyman said. “Not the $20 an hour I was promised for the 38 hours I worked.”
According to the Tribune, some 55 to 65 people were hired by MVP to work at the golf tournament. Lyman told the Tribune that eight employees have not been paid.
Lyman told the Tribune he sent multiple emails to MVP Event Staffing to inquire about when he would receive his paycheck and, as of Aug. 28, he has not received any response.
Edgewood Tahoe Resort hosted the golf tournament but is not responsible for the hiring and payment of the people who worked for the concessions. Edgewood did not respond to a request for comment before press time.
The American Century Championship contracted Spectrum Events as the catering and concession company to provide hospitality services for the tournament. In turn, Spectrum contracted MVP Event Staffing to hire and pay temporary workers.
Spectrum paid MVP in full for the amounts due after the tournament, said Spectrum vice president of administration Missie Martinez in an email sent to SFGATE on Wednesday. Spectrum has worked with MVP on events before, Martinez said.
“We would like to go on record that this is not an Edgewood issue; they have paid in full and are great partners and put on a great event benefitting so many in the Tahoe region,” Martinez said. “Further, this is not a Spectrum issue, but we feel responsible to the people this has affected and are trying to do all we can. We have worked on keeping the pressure on the agency in default and follow up regularly. We are hopeful. “
MVP Events Staffing did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment.
Greg Fielding, a founding partner at MVP Event Staffing, told the Tahoe Daily Tribune that his company assumes responsibility for paying people they hired to work the tournament.
“I can’t get into details of what happened other than to generally say our cash flow is dependent upon collecting from our clients,” Fielding told the Tribune.