NBCUniversal is being sued in a class-action lawsuit by two unpaid interns who say they were treated as employees and therefore should have been compensated for the work they did at the network.
According to
The Hollywood Reporter, MSNBC intern Jesse Moore worked unpaid in the booking department at the network in 2011, while Monet Eliastam worked on the staff of "Saturday Night Live" in 2012 without compensation.
The lawsuit alleges that NBCUniversal violated employment law in the way it used interns by giving them the duties of paid employees. Labor Department guidelines require internships to be educational apprenticeships that do not advantage an employer or displace regular employees.
Moore and Eliastam argue that their treatment as employees entitled them to a salary of at least minimum wage along with unemployment benefits, workers' compensation insurance, and Social Security contributions.
"We hope that this case will send a clear message that private companies cannot rely on unpaid interns to perform entry-level work that contributes to operations and reduces their labor costs," Justin Swartz, attorney for the plaintiffs, told the Reporter.
"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," he said.
Lawyers estimate that hundreds of interns are eligible to join the lawsuit, and plaintiffs believe the amount of money in dispute could exceed $5 million, according to the Reporter.
The legal action is the latest in a number of lawsuits filed against major media companies by former unpaid interns. In recent weeks,
Conde Nast, Gawker, Warner Music and Fox Searchlight have been sued for allegedly violating the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay minimum wage to interns.
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