Your correspondent got into the journalism game a few minutes too early. What was once an understood part of the journalism college curriculum, required internships that were more often than not unpaid, have almost been entirely done away with. If any employers are still hoping to get free work from wannabe university students, they might think otherwise after another settlement was made in a case where the aforementioned interns sued for violation of labor laws. Viacom just settled (in principle) a class action lawsuit regarding unpaid internships at its holding MTV, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The primary plaintiff in the lawsuit is Casey O'Jeda, who worked without pay at MTV from September 2011 until January 2012, specifically doing work for the network's mobile site. Following her filing, more than 300 other former interns entered into the suit as well.
Many argue that interns in such cases have no grounds for suit because they understand at the time of entry into the positions that no payment will be procured and generally sign contracts acknowledging terms of employment. However District Judge Jesse Furman concurred that the plaintiffs in the suit were "victims of a common policy to replace paid workers with unpaid interns."
No value for the settlement has been given but it will likely apply to any Viacom intern who worked post 2010.
Other media companies that have already dealt with unpaid internship issues include NBC and Conde Nast, while within the music industry Bad Boy Entertainment has faced a similar lawsuit. Fox is also undergoing a class-action suit at the moment but has opted to take it to a court of appeals while Viacom decided to settle.
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