Interns sue.. and WIN!

[dfisk]

" my internship wasn't tied to any sort of college credit or anything like that, "

then it wasn't an internship.

perhaps an apprenticeship..?

whatever you want to call it. I worked for free for 6 months at a post place while at the same time working 3am to noon as a security guard at Delux film lab so my family didn't starve. 

[podgorny]

I am a huge fan of unpaid internships because I believe in apprenticeship. To me, as long as an individual is creating negative gains in terms of work being accomplished, they shouldn't be paid. And make no mistake, interns create more workload for their employer. Between explaining how a job is done, demonstrating it, and going back and correcting their mistakes, it takes five times as long as if I'd simply done a job myself.  But again, this is about learning a craft.

Internships have the added benefit of weeding out those who are lazy or not serious. And in my experience, every single intern who has complained about pay has fallen into at least one of those categories.

[studiomprd]

" this is about learning a craft. "

you have described proper internships, and I agree...

problem is, greedy types abuse the system, and consider their so-called interns "even cheaper than cheap"  (aka free) labor...

[Marc Wielage]

Minimum wage ($8/hour) would only cost the company $64 a day for an intern. I don't see how that would drive any company -- let alone a movie studio -- broke. In LA, that wouldn't even be enough for gas money, parking, lunch, and your daily cell phone usage. 

[Craig F]

And have you seen some of the Craigslist posting for inters, they want 5 years of experance on all the major tools, you'll be doing the work

and it's no pay

 

I always though inters should at least get a Per Diem for the days they are in.

[studiomprd]

" Craigslist posting for inters, they want 5 years of experance "

BINGO

these are not internships

these may even be illegal (as the courts ruled against FOX)

[Jim Feeley]

For those of you following the broader topic, of intern lawsuits, ProPublica just published this chart that they intend to keep updated:

 

 

Tracking Intern Lawsuits

Since the victory two weeks ago in a lawsuit brought by unpaid interns against Fox Searchlight Pictures, three suits have been filed challenging the legality of unpaid internships. The complaints against Condé Nast, Warner Music and Gawker Media are the latest in a rising tide of lawsuits brought by unpaid interns, many of which are still in progress. Here follows a list of the suits. 

 

 

 

http://projects.propublica.org/graphics/intern-suits

[palmeirim]

Just putting in my two cents as a recent intern/apprentice. I had the opportunity to intern under two different entities: the first a music producer/live sound engineer with whom I became close friends and that, as I began to learn, made a point of paying me on the rare occasions that my presence involved more actual work than learning. It was my first time ever in a sound related enviroment, a great opportunity, I made friends and business contacts and most of all I learned a lot.

My second internship was for a small TV production company, and it started out fine: I was prepping stuff, having access to their one-man shoots and getting to learn stuff from their regular sound guy, I was able to pop by their post place and just chat or actually get my hands on stuff, etc. Soon, however, I was invited to record for them, with their equipment, and very quickly I was recording/doing post for an entire big-brand sponsored Internet show - all of this for an insignificant fee even for my country standarts. I talked to them and told them: either we go back to me actually learning stuff or you pay me properly (which, honestly, I wouldn't mind, but made no sense: I was at a stage where I should be learning, not mixing on my own!). They, of course, "fired" me, and all was explained later: they low-ball their prices, and rely on interns to get the job done.

I still have a friend there, who just edited a feature documentary for them for a monthly fee smaller than that of a regular editor's weekly fee on my country. The reason? He's learning and getting to make great contacts. ---

 

In short: being an intern/apprentice can be an amazing thing. But it has to, as soon as possible, be subjected to some sort of regulation. Companies all over Europe are abusing it, and it seems like film productions companies in the States are as well.

 

edit: sorry for the long rant!

[studiomprd]

" they low-ball their prices, and rely on interns to get the job done. "

that is not an internship...

 

" a friend there, who just edited a feature documentary for them for a monthly fee smaller than that of a regular editor's weekly fee on my country. The reason? He's learning and getting to make great contacts. --- "

that is perhaps more like an apprenticeship, if the client is paying a lower price knowing they are getting the work of an apprentice, supervised by a journeyman...

in a case like that, it is somewhat like getting your hair styled cheap at a stylist college, where the students get experience, and you get an inexpensive treatment.

[studiomprd]

" The avalanche of lawsuits on the internship front keeps coming. "

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/msnbc-saturday-night-live-interns-579794

 

as before the question is whether or not these folks were interns, or "free help" aka unpaid employees...

By misclassifying Plaintiffs and hundreds of workers as unpaid or underpaid interns, NBCUniversal has denied them the benefits that the law affords to employees, including unemployment, workers’ compensation insurance, social security contributions, and, most crucially, the right to earn a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work.”

The plaintiffs believe that the amount of money in controversy exceeds $5 million.

 

what I notice: This class action against NBCU alleging violations of the FLSA and New York Labor Laws estimates hundreds of interns in the proposed class.

this gives me the feeling that they were depending on these folks to produce the show, more than providing a training opportunity for a few students.  I'd be more comfortable thinking of them as apprentices, or trainees, but that terminology is for (low) paid positions...

as in...

" private companies cannot rely on unpaid interns to perform entry-level work that contributes to operations and reduces their labor costs.  Our clients and other unpaid interns seem to have been as integral to NBCUniversal’s business as other employees, but are different in a crucial way -- NBCUniversal didn’t pay them.”

[Richard Ragon]

Here they come.. 

 

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-12/why-interns-are-suing-saturday-night-live-hollywood-and-other-dream-employers#r=hpt-ls

 

And.. this one is funny.  There was a podcast episode on KCRW's the business called, 'the intern who sued fox'

 

Glad to see someone is looking into the abuse!  Took long enough.

[studiomprd]

more legal actions over what interns do:

http://deadline.com/2014/10/wendy-williams-intern-lawsuit-lionsgate-debmar-mercury-847977/

[Stillweii]

like those clever NYC Subway ads for the Storage Company say 

 

"The French Aristocracy never saw it coming either"

[studiomprd]

As some companies like Fox and Lionsgate fight the issue of whether unpaid internships violate labor laws in court, at least one giant media company appears to putting the litigation to bed... Meanwhile, attorneys for the plaintiffs are preparing to go before the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in the dispute with Fox over internships on the movie Black Swan and elsewhere.

.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/nbcu-settling-lawsuit-msnbc-saturday-741395?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_headlines&utm_campaign=THR%20Headlines_2014-10-17%2009%3A45%3A00%20America%2FLos_Angeles_fhorn

[dfisk]

I have a bittersweet feeling about my internship in post production. I got to do and see a lot of really cool stuff. I learned a great deal. But.....there came a point at which I was doing real work and generating income for the company. At that point, it is no longer an internship, but a low level assistant gig, and should be paid. 

[studiomprd]

" If everything is approved, the plaintiffs’ lawyers at labor-issues firm Outten & Golden will get $1.184 million from the settlement. Unsurprisingly, that’s a lot more than the plaintiffs will see. “Class Counsel will move for Court approval of the Service Payments of $10,000 to Plaintiff Monet Eliastam, $5,000 to Plaintiffs Alexander Vainer, and Rheanna Behuniak and $2,000 to Opt-In Plaintiffs Samantha Kurlander, Nicole Klepper, and Jamaal Brown,” the filing of October 22 states. The rest of the cash will go to thousands of others who interned at NBCU starting on July 3, 2007 in NY and on February 10, 2010 in California. Those interns should expect to get about $500 each if they accept the settlement... While others like Fox Searchlight continue to fight the intern lawsuits against them, NBCU took out its checkbook to get the matter out of the way... while this handles the matter for NBCU, it opens up the door to a whole new way of handling these allegations that media companies are violating labor laws by having interns do the work of paid employees.. "

http://deadline.com/2014/10/saturday-night-live-intern-lawsuit-settlement-nbcuniversal-858894/