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Whitefish Ministry Agrees To Pay $118,000 In Back Wages

A Christian ministry based in Whitefish which operates the Mudman Burgers chain has agreed to pay former employees roughly $118,000 in back pay and penalties for those unpaid wages.

Potter’s Field Ministries agreed to pay worker’s unpaid wages following decisions against the ministry by the Montana Department of Labor and Industry last month. The state found the groupillegally underpaid five employees, totaling roughly $118,000 in both back wages and penalties. 

Potter’s Field In-House Council Sharon DiMuro confirmed to MTPR in a text message that the non-profit is paying its former workers what they are owed, but declined to make any further comment.

Potter’s Field had argued that former workers were volunteers, not employees, and that they were donating their time as an act of worship.

State officials say workers signed illegal agreements asking them to work 60-hour weeks or more for as little as $300 per month.

Aaron graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Journalism in 2015 after interning at Minnesota Public Radio. He landed his first reporting gig in Wrangell, Alaska where he enjoyed the remote Alaskan lifestyle and eventually moved back to the road system as the KBBI News Director in Homer, Alaska. He joined the MTPR team in 2019. Aaron now reports on all things in northwest Montana and statewide health care.
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