Orange County Employment Lawyers Blog

The courts have recently seen a wave of litigation action taken by former interns across the country who say their work has essentially amounted to free labor for their respective industries, and that such actions have violated state and federal wage and hour laws.

Our Costa Mesa labor attorneys recognize that part of the reason why we are seeing an uptick in these kinds of cases has to do with the fact that internships that are unpaid are fast becoming the norm.

But aside from questions of social inequality arising from this framework (i.e., there are a great many students who can’t afford not to be paid for full-time work, even over the course of a summer), problems have arisen from the fact that many companies seem to flout the six federal mandates required in order for a company to retain unpaid interns. Those requirement, per the Fair Labor Standards Act, include:

A woman who was fired by her boss for being sexually “irresistible” will have her lawsuit re-examined by the state supreme court in Iowa, following the court’s almost unheard-of move of unanimously withdrawing its earlier ruling in the case.

Our Costa Mesa gender discrimination lawyers are pleased to hear that this is something the court is reconsidering. Although the ruling never had a direct impact on California workers, the precedent it set for future cases was deeply troubling.

According to media accounts, the plaintiff worked for 10 years as a dental hygienist in a small office with a boss with whom she got along well. However, she said she was blindsided one day when he told her she was fired because she was a threat to his marriage because she was “irresistible.”

Orange County Employment Lawyers Blog

California Unpaid Internships May Warrant Wage Lawsuits

Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Revived by State Supreme Court