RNZ – Gloriavale set to face employment case alleging ‘slave-like conditions’

By Jean Edwards – RNZ – 25/08/2022

Six former Gloriavale women will tell a court they lived in “slave-like conditions” working as employees under an all-pervading regime of secular and religious control.

The Employment Court will next week hear a case brought by Serenity Pilgrim, Anna Courage, Rose Standtrue, Crystal Loyal, Pearl Valor and Virginia Courage who contend they were employees not volunteers at the West Coast Christian community.

The women’s claims, which are strongly contested by Gloriavale’s senior leaders, are detailed in a judgment released by the court about the admissibility of evidence.

The women said they could not refuse to work without significant consequences.

“These included spiritual consequences such as eternal damnation, as well as denial of food, corporal punishment, public shaming, and temporary and permanent expulsion from the community,” the document said.

Read more here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/473518/gloriavale-set-to-face-employment-case-alleging-slave-like-conditions