Eight women participants in the Botox City's experimental Work-for-a-Home Program filed charges under Title VII, claiming that they experienced a...

Eight women participants in the Botox City's experimental Work-for-a-Home Program filed charges under Title VII, claiming that they experienced a hostile work environment at the home building site. Botox City argued that the participants were volunteers, not employees. The women, all single mothers on welfare, worked at one location where they assisted in building homes for themselves (similar to Habitat for Humanity concept but four duplex houses on four adjoining city-owned lots). In exchange for working a minimum of 400 hours on the construction of their homes, the women were taught basic home maintenance skills, were eligible for workers' compensation, received free transportation to and from the site as well as child care expenses, and were awarded 30-year, low interest, fixed-rate mortgages that were based on the women's ability to pay. Discuss whether these participants were employees.