Unpaid Intern Class Action Lawsuit
Were you an Unpaid Intern?Treated Unfairly?
Our law firm is looking to speak to people who served as Unpaid Interns and feel that the internship violated labor laws. We are bringing lawsuits on behalf on unpaid interns.
A common practice of employers hiring workers with no pay or inadequate pay and calling those employees “interns."It is common practice for the broadcast, entertainment, publishing and fashion industries to offer “internships” to younger workers who want to break into the industry. Evidence is emerging that many of these companies are having interns perform menial tasks unrelated to an educational purpose. Additionally, evidence is emerging that some companies hire workers and call them interns even though those employees are not enrolled in a college course.
“Unpaid Internship” is not a term of art, but rather a statutorily defined term.
Federal labor laws exempt “unpaid interns” from wage and hour laws only if certain criteria are met, including the following:
(1) The work performed by the intern must benefit the intern;
(2) The intern must not displace a regular employee;
(3) The training received by the intern must be equivalent to training the intern would receive in an educational institution; and
(4) The employer can not derive an immediate advantage from the intern’s activities.
Many industries abuse workers by calling them “unpaid interns” then assigning them menial tasks.
In many industries - especially the broadcast, entertainment, fashion and publishing industries - unpaid interns are forced to do the grunt work. Published reports indicate that in these industries unpaid interns must make and serve coffee, take lunch orders and distribute lunch, take out the trash and clean offices. Unpaid interns are told that they must put up with this conduct if they want to “get their foot in the door.” This conduct may violate federal and state labor laws.
If you were an intern and would like to discuss your situation and your rights, please call Bill Kyros at 1-800-934-2921.
Kyros Law is a Boston-based law firm with significant experience representing consumers in class actions, wage and labor law, shareholder rights and complex litigation. For info about our law firm please our Kyros Law web site.
