Ex-Interns Respond To ICM

Ex-ICM interns Kimberly Behzadi and Jason Rindenau claim they performed duties normally done by paid employees while working in educational internships, which they say violates federal minimum wage rules.

The potential class could include hundreds of former interns. Unsurprisingly, ICM would like to nip that suit in the bud. ICM has already filed a motion trying to get the case tossed by claiming Behzadi, who initially filed her suit individually, signed an employment contract after her internship ended that requires her to take her dispute to arbitration rather than to court.

Behzadi then added Rindenau to her complaint, and sought class action status. In a second motion to dismiss, ICM cites a statute of limitations, claiming Rindenau missed the three-year window from the end of his internship when he was added to the amended complaint, filed Aug. 15.

The company says his internship ended Aug. 5, 2011. Attorneys for the ex-interns say the statute doesn’t apply in their case and, in any event, ICM relies on information provided, outside of discovery, by its own VP of Human Resources for the internship’s ending date.

ICM also alleges the New York court has no jurisdiction in the case, because Rindenau performed his internship in its Los Angeles office while a student at UCLA.

The plaintiffs say their claims would be the same regardless of where and when they worked. “The claims rest on the very same allegation – that ICM had a policy of failing to pay its interns based on its unlawful determination that they are not covered by minimum wage protections,” according to attorneys for the former interns.