Condé Nast has decided to settle its class action lawsuit brought on by over 7,000 interns who claim they were underpaid for their internships at various publications like The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vogue.
According to Businessweek, the company was sued last June by 7,500 people when interns from The New Yorker and W magazine called out the media giant for overworking them without providing educational value for the internships. With the settlement, the interns are expected to get between $700 to $1,900 each.
In the Condé Nast case, an intern at W Magazine and an intern at The New Yorker claimed their jobs did not meet the US Department of Labor’s six requirements for unpaid internships because their work allegedly benefitted Condé Nast and did not provide educational value.
The W Magazine intern, Lauren Ballinger, told The New York Times her internship was similar to Anne Hathaway’s errand-running job in the movie “The Devil Wears Prada,” but that she was paid just $12 a day in 2009 for delivering accessories to the magazine’s editors.
The New Yorker intern, Matthew Leib, was paid $300 and $500 during the summers of 2009 and 2010. He did proofreading and editing for the magazine for eight hours a day, three days a week.
The company released a statement following the decision:
While we continue to believe the internships that were offered at Condé Nast provided experiences that were among the best in the media business, we determined that settling the lawsuit is the right business decision for Condé Nast, as it allows us to focus our time and resources on developing meaningful, new opportunities to support future up-and-coming talent,” the company said.
Condé Nast ended its internship program earlier this fall.
SOURCE: Business Insider | PHOTO CREDIT: Handout
