02/03/2012 // WPB, FL, USA // Injury Lawyers News // Nicole Howley
New York, NY — A former Harper’s Bazaar intern has file a lawsuit alleging that her internship violated labor laws. The class action-seeking lawsuit was filed on Wednesday, February 1, 2012, in a New York federal court, Reuters reported.
Xuedan Wang, 28, was hired as an unpaid intern in the magazines’ accessories department from August to December of last year, where she typically worked a 40-hour week with sometimes working as many as 55 hours.
“Unpaid interns are becoming the modern-day equivalent of entry-level employees, except that employers are not paying them for the many hours they work,” the lawsuit stated. “Employers’ failure to compensate interns for their work, and the prevalence of the practice nationwide, curtails opportunities for employment, fosters class divisions between those who can afford to work for no wage and those who cannot, and indirectly contributes to rising unemployment.”
Wang, who also goes by Diana, claims that the interns are a “crucial labor force” at Hearst, the magazine’s publisher, Reuters revealed.
The lawsuit, which names Hearst Corporation, is seeking minimum-wage pay and overtime pay in damages.
The Fair Labor Standard Act allows companies to employ unpaid interns only if they do not displace regular employees, and as long as “the employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; an on occasion its operations may be actually be impeded.”
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