Interns are people too, court rules

A major case could upend the practice of not compensating "educational" positions

"The Internship"
(Image credit: Facebook.com/TheInternshipMovie)

In a decison that could have far-reaching repercussions for unpaid internships, a federal District Court judge ruled on Tuesday that two unpaid interns who worked on the movie Black Swan should have been compensated for their services.

The two interns, Alexander Footman and Eric Glatt, argued that they were forced to do menial work that would otherwise have been done by paid employees. That, they argued, meant their internships should have been covered by state and federal wage laws.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.