Unpaid interns sue ‘Black Swan’ production company
Two men are suing Fox Searchlight, saying the company violated minimum wage and overtime laws when they employed the two as interns on the Academy Award-winning film “Black Swan.” In these uncertain economic times, many film studios and other employers have been hiring more unpaid interns. For the company that hires interns, the benefit is a free worker, and for the intern the benefit is a learning experience, and possibly a paid job offer in the future. The federal labor department has a set list of rules that unpaid internships must follow: the position should benefit the intern, it should not displace other employees, and it should be educational. Did Fox Searchlight violate these rules? We’re speaking with Elizabeth Wagoner, an attorney with Outten and Golden, who is representing the two clients in a putative class and collective action against Fox Searchlight Incorporated.
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