Judge rules against unpaid internships
Unpaid interns won a major fight in court this week as a judge has decided that they should most often be compensated for their time and attendance. A New York federal court ruled that interns who worked on the movie Black Swan were unfairly treated when they were denied pay for their work.
The case was filed by Eric Glatt, one of the interns who served on the set of the film. Glatt says that he was made to believe an internship was supposed to serve as an entryway into a given field. When he and several other interns were given a huge workload and were not compensated, Glatt decided to file a suit against Fox.
The court determined that individuals can only be labeled as interns if they gain more from the experience than the company benefits from an intern's work. The court further expanded the ruling by deciding that individuals can only be denied financial benefits if the assignment is educational, aside from gains earned through school credit.
Glatt's attorney told NPR that the ruling was a significant victory for interns.
"I think that many, many internships fall into the category of wage theft, and I think that this decision is a blow to that practice," he said.
All data and information provided on this news blog is for informational purposes only. Infinisource makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. Information regarding employment suits and other legal action is not updated after publication, and may not be current.