Gloriavale: Judge declares ex-residents were employees, not volunteers

Six former Gloriavale residents have been declared employees by the Employment Court.

Chief Judge Christina Inglis’ judgment released today found Virginia Courage, Pearl Valor, Serenity Pilgrim, Rose Standtrue, Anna Courage and Crystal Loyal weren’t volunteers when they worked on teams while residents of the West Coast Christian community.

“I find that each of the plaintiffs was an employee while working on the Teams and make a declaration accordingly,” she said in her judgment.

In May 2022 the Employment Court ruled that three former male Gloriavale members who worked on farms and in factories were employees from the age of six.

The Employment Court heard 10 weeks of evidence, from August to September last year and then again from February to March this year, which even saw the Judge visit Gloriavale.

“The question as to who the employer of each of the plaintiffs was during the relevant times is adjourned,” Judge Inglis said in her judgment.

During the hearing, dozens of witnesses gave evidence including many former and current residents of the West Coast commune.

The court heard that most women work on teams cooking and cleaning, while others work in the classroom, the office, or the sewing room.

The working conditions of women were discussed in depth.

One of the plaintiffs claimed she was forced to work 90 hours a week.

Serenity Pilgrim left the West Coast commune in 2018, along with her parents and her siblings.

Pilgrim said she started working as a five-year-old.

“As far as I remember, we always had work, I always had jobs. I would have been about 7, maybe 8 when I started working. When you were younger, you had two days a week that you had to go and set the tables after school in the afternoon.”

The court heard that those who refused to work had food withheld and were threatened with eternal damnation.

Gloriavale’s leaders rejected the claims through their lawyer, telling the court the women know what they sign up for.

Lawyer Phillip Skelton said the women of Gloriavale are not stupid.

"They’re not brainwashed, they’re not ignorant, they’re not uneducated."

He said they chose to serve the 600-strong population by cooking, cleaning and washing for no pay.

The court heard that the working conditions at Gloriavale had changed since the six plaintiffs left the community.

Priscilla Stedfast, who was born at Gloriavale, said she was not an employee and never wanted to be.

“I have chosen this life and I love living it.

“This 90 hours of work on average is totally incorrect. More likely that would be the most extreme circumstance but even then, it seems impossible.

“At six years-old the only job girls would do is set the table for tea with their mother,” said Stedfast.

Rebekah Kempf was born at the commune and left with her family in 2015.

She is the great-granddaughter of Gloriavale’s founder, Hopeful Christian, and told the court her work resulted in back pain and frost bite.

“I’d be lifting 20kg crates standing on a stool on a slippery floor in the freezer usually on my own.

“I was always tired. You cannot refuse to do work. If you did you'd be confronted by a leader,” said Kempf.

The court heard women would process rotting vegetables in an effort to save money, lived on rice and porridge for a week at a time, and were forced to give up sanitary products.

“So I stocked my drawer full because I was told we'd have to go back to using sphagnum moss. This was a saving-money exercise,” said Kempf.

Pearl Valor left the community in November 2021 and was visibly shaken, when taking to the stand, as she recalled her life there.

“Humiliation and shaming in front of others is part of the driving force to make people want to help and do all this work and get up early and get it done,” said Valor.

Plaintiff Crystal Loyal said by the age of seven, young girls get up at about 6am making toast and a “health drink” for breakfast. After school, they’d occasionally be expected to help with laundry or cooking.

The court heard that breakfast had to be ready by 7.30am and if it wasn’t then women and girls were made to stand before the community and apologise.

“When I was 10, 11, 12 like all the girls my age I started doing more early mornings. We would start doing a bathroom cleaning as well, just clean a toilet at your hostel. And probably work another afternoon too,” said Loyal.

But 20-year-old Compassion Standtrue, who was born and raised at Gloriavale, said she liked working on the women’s teams, and that by doing so she’s following what God wants.

“The Bible says that we should be keepers at home so that includes cooking, washing, looking after children, teaching children – things like that,” Standtrue said.

The six plaintiffs also said they were made to work long hours in ‘slave-like’ conditions.

“To say that Gloriavale is a Christian community is wrong. It is a cheap labour camp,” said Virginia Courage.

Current resident Temperance Hopeful said the employment case was an attack on the commune's faith, and "what is being called slave labour is simply a labour of love to those who love to serve Christ by serving one another".

"It is going to destroy the community because I know we don't have the money to pay it all out. I don't know the finances, but I know that much - we can't afford to have everyone as employees."

Gloriavale has been at the centre of accusations of sexual and physical abuse for decades.

Former resident Rose Standtrue shed tears as she gave her evidence, telling the court she lived in fear of the men and the abuse at the commune.

“I wanted to commit suicide because I was real depressed and had anxiety and PTSD and I felt like that was the only way out of Gloriavale.

“I’ve been warned by older girls to keep away from certain married men. I’ve seen girls be touched inappropriately by men while they are working and had this happen to me,” said Standtrue.

Born and raised in the isolated community, Standtrue was 22 when she left in September 2021.

It was claimed that sexual abuse was rife in the workplace, and one senior member was "known to touch a lot of girls and nobody liked serving his table".

“He tried to grope them, and I was warned of this and so I was scared.

“He was a creep, and he used his authority to selectively groom some girls. I hated it but I couldn’t talk to my parents,” said Standtrue.

She said as sexual abuse was exposed at Gloriavale, it became triggering for her, and she begged for counselling. It was offered once police officers told the leaders she needed help.

"I collapsed and couldn’t work anymore."

Standtrue said even though it was preached that suicide would send her to hell, she was so depressed at Gloriavale, she thought it was her only way out.

In 2020, police and Oranga Tamariki launched a joint investigation into sexual and physical abuse at Gloriavale, which found at least 60 people were involved in "harmful sexual behaviour".

During his evidence at the Employment Court hearing Overseeing Shepherd Howard Temple said the findings of that investigation were a "big shock" and made the leadership realise their own methods were "totally inadequate".

Victims used to be asked to forgive their perpetrators, which Temple agreed was not an adequate response to the trauma they had experienced.

He said women and children felt stifled and unable to speak out because of the policy, but the Government agencies are now providing counselling and support for people who have experienced sexual violence or other trauma.

The leadership issued an apology in May 2022 to current and former members, for "failing to prevent and protect victims of labour exploitation and sexual abuse".

Issues of coercion were also raised throughout the hearing.

The Employment Court heard claims that the women at Gloriavale have to submit to their husbands. They also aren’t allowed to teach or preach authority over any man.

Some residents sign a Declaration of Commitment with expectations to follow Gloriavale’s foundational document "What We Believe".

"So are you telling Your Honour by the time that they're at an age to sign the ([Declaration of]) Commitment they have been taught for years that as women who gets married they will have to obey their husbands?" Gloriavale leavers' lawyer Brian Henry asked Gloriavale Overseeing Shepherd Howard Temple.

"That is common knowledge in the church; that is written in the Bible. They would have read it themselves, I presume, it would have been spoken of as part of the Bible teaching," Temple said.

He said women are taught not to use birth control and shouldn't refuse sex.

"So they're in a community where the whole philosophy that they're absorbing information from is teaching that they should have as many children … as they can have and that's the duty they've got?" Henry asked.

"I would put it another way, as many as God would give them, because they go to marriage then they have a love life. A sexual relationship is not 'let's have a baby, let's have a baby, let's have a baby', that's not what it's about," Temple responded.

"It's 'let's have sex' and there's a consequence," Henry said.

Current residents hit back at suggestions they were forced by the leaders to have babies.

Christiana Standtrue told the Employment Court that she has always loved babies and children.

She said she believes that "God opens and shuts the womb and that it is his will when a child is conceived and born".

Former member John Ready told the Court the main focus for young women in the West Coast community was to work and produce babies.

He said their plight was a "serious concern" and that the leadership gets money for each child born, through the Government's Working for Families tax scheme.

"They have not been given life for the sake of money, or the shepherd's, and this is a totally disgusting comment which I reject as completely untrue, I find it extremely offensive,” Standtrue said.

During proceedings the head of Gloriavale, Howard Temple, confirmed police are investigating forced labour, slavery and servitude at the West Coast commune.

He said while he's aware of the case, he knows very little about it.

"The police work under apparently a confidentiality clause and they don't disclose a lot of what they're doing and where they are and who they're talking to, to me," said Temple.

Temple said the plaintiffs are confusing the concepts of submission and subjugation.

"Submission is a voluntary act. Subjugation is forced and is not the concept described in the commitment," he said.

"The plaintiffs also say the submission gives the shepherds, and me in particular, absolute power over community members and their offerings. This is also incorrect and entirely at odds with the concept of volunteered submission.”

Gloriavale leaders represented themselves for the second half of the Employment Court proceedings, saying they could no longer afford legal representation.

Then as final submissions were about to get underway, they turned up to court with a new lawyer.

Brought in after 10 weeks of evidence, Carter Pearce said he was “rather late to the game".

The move delayed final arguments which the judge called “disappointing".

"This is really regrettable where we've ended up, and I must say I'm disappointed in it," Judge Inglis said.

Howard Temple said they believed the decision was wrong, and they intended to appeal.

"The decision has significant and wide ranging implications beyond just our community. This includes how New Zealand faith-based communities, iwi and whanau choose to live and structure their household responsibilities."

By Katie Stevenson and Ryan Boswell