Interns Gain In Fox Suit

The interns charge that the company’s unpaid internship program violate minimum wage and overtime rules.

Judge William Pauley considered whether the internship program was a legitimate training program according to U.S. Labor Department criteria, or if it served to benefit the company rather than interns, which are used extensively in the entertainment industry.

Pauley concluded the interns were improperly classified as unpaid interns and were actually employees covered by federal labor regulations.

“They worked as paid employees work, providing an immediate advantage to their employer and performed low-level tasks not requiring specialized training,” the judge wrote. “The benefits they may have received – such as the knowledge of how a production or accounting office functions or references for future jobs – are the results of simply having worked as any other employee works, not of internships designed to be uniquely educational to the interns of little utility to the employer.”

The case is but one of several disputes around unpaid internships.

ICM Partners reportedly seeks arbitration with a former intern in a similar case. NBCUniversal, Warner Music and Sony also face litigation from former interns claiming wage and overtime violations.