Articles Posted in September, 2011

Two interns filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York City alleging that Fox Searchlight Pictures, the producer of “Black Swan,” misclassified them as unpaid interns despite that they engaged in work, typically performed by paid employees. Among other things, the interns alleged that they performed work such as making coffee, taking out trash, and handling lunch orders.
We wrote about the issue of misclassification of workers as unpaid interns in our May 25, 2010 blog, Department of Labor Issues Guidelines on Unpaid Internships. To be valid, an internship must provide an educational experience, and not just amount to an unpaid job. In recent years, both the United States Department of Labor and New York State Department of Labor have scrutinized internships to make sure that they are legitimate.
Both federal and New York law require that employees be paid the minimum wage for hours worked, as well as overtime for hours worked in excess of 40 in a given workweek. Thus, if the court rules that the interns, who worked at Fox Searchlight Pictures, were really employees, the movie studio will be liable for failure to pay minimum wage and overtime pay.

On September 15, 2011, a class of current and former exotic dancers filed a claim against The Executive Club LLC d/b/a The Penthouse Executive Club, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging wage and hour violations. Specifically, the lawsuit against the New York club alleges that the dancers were not paid the applicable minimum wage and overtime pay. In addition, the dancers allege that their tips were misappropriated by the club’s management. The complaint asserts claims under the New York Labor Law as well as the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
A critical issue in the case is whether the dancers were properly classified as independent contractors. The dancers allege that they were actually “employees” based upon the club’s exercise of control over their work. If the court finds that the dancers were, in fact, common law employees, then the New York Labor Law and Fair Labor Standards Act will apply to the dancers, and could result in liability for unpaid wages.