Interns suing for FLSA violations while working on set of Black Swan
Two interns have filed a lawsuit against Fox Searchlight for unpaid work they performed on the Oscar award-winning film, Black Swan. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of hundreds of unpaid interns who worked on the film. They are suing to recoup unpaid wages and other damages.
Alex Footman and Eric Glatt are filing charges on the grounds that they did not receive the type of training necessary to consider an unpaid internship exempt from Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provisions.
Footman was a production intern on the film from October 2009 to February 2012. He worked forty-hour, five-day workweeks preparing a steady supply of coffee for the production team, taking lunch orders, passing out lunch orders, taking out the trash, collecting receipts for expense reports and cleaning the office, according the lawsuit.
While the FLSA does consider some internships to be exempt from regular employee benefits, the employers must providing interns with training that will benefit their education. Additionally, the experience must predominantly benefit the intern and not the employer.
Due to the nature of the work the interns performed, they are claiming the film production company violated labor laws by keeping them off of payroll.
Alex Footman and Eric Glatt are filing charges on the grounds that they did not receive the type of training necessary to consider an unpaid internship exempt from Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provisions.
Footman was a production intern on the film from October 2009 to February 2012. He worked forty-hour, five-day workweeks preparing a steady supply of coffee for the production team, taking lunch orders, passing out lunch orders, taking out the trash, collecting receipts for expense reports and cleaning the office, according the lawsuit.
While the FLSA does consider some internships to be exempt from regular employee benefits, the employers must providing interns with training that will benefit their education. Additionally, the experience must predominantly benefit the intern and not the employer.
Due to the nature of the work the interns performed, they are claiming the film production company violated labor laws by keeping them off of payroll.
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