In major setback for unpaid interns, appeals court rules knowledge is compensation enough

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published 2 July 2015

Fox Searchlight Pictures Inc. and The Hearst Corporation may have just gotten off the hook for not paying their interns. A lower court previously ruled that the companies had broken the law by not paying interns, but a U.S. appeals court in Manhattan backpedaled on that decision on Thursday, saying that as long as interns gained knowledge in a particular career field in an internship, payment is not necessary. "The purpose of a bona‐fide internship is to integrate classroom learning with practical skill development in a real-world setting," Circuit Judge John Walker wrote.

Though the ruling offers some clarification as to what constitutes appropriate intern work and what does not, the cases will now be sent back to U.S. judges in Manhattan, who will decide if the Fox and Hearst internships were primarily educational.