If you are an unpaid intern, you need to make sure that the agreement you have in place with the company you work for provides you with educational benefits. 
Recently, there have been many lawsuits filed against companies by former unpaid interns over allegations of wage theft. The cases often allege that interns are forced to do work by companies attempting to save money, rather than having paid employees stay extra hours to perform tasks.
Several high-profile class action lawsuits have been filed by former unpaid interns over alleged violations of federal minimum wage and overtime laws. These lawsuits seek damages for unpaid interns who worked for the companies, often resulting in back pay.
Recently, publisher Condé Nast agreed to pay $5.8 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by thousands of former interns who claimed they were paid less than $1 an hour for work. The settlement agreement was filed recently in a Manhattan federal court and applies to 7,500 interns, according to the New York Post.
Payments for the former interns are expected to range from $700 to $1,900, according to the settlement paperwork.
How Can I Speak to a Class Action Lawyer About an Unpaid Internship?
If you believe that your internship took advantage of you by not paying you, contact our attorneys today. A class action lawsuit can be a powerful tool for employees and interns to seek back wages in disputes.
Keep in mind, an internship should benefit you through training and education—it should not only benefit the company you are interning for; an employer should not gain financially because of your unpaid labor.
Contact KGG attorney Gary Graifman by calling (800) 711-5258 or use the online contact form on this page if you are interested in pursuing legal action against a company for back wages.
Kantrowitz, Goldhamer & Graifman, P.C. – Class Action Lawyers
Source: http://nypost.com/2014/11/14/conde-nast-settles-class-action-suit-against-underpaid-interns/
