Former interns at “Saturday Night Live” and MSNBC have filed a proposed class action lawsuit against NBC Universal, claiming the company violated minimum wage laws by not paying them for work.
Jesse Moore, a former intern in the MSNBC bookings department, worked 24 or more hours a week without pay from September 2011 through that November, according to the complaint. Monet Eliastam worked 25 or more hours a week at “Saturday Night Live” from January 2012 through that May, and again from September through December of that year.
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The lawsuit, which seeks back pay for the hours worked along with overtime, is asking for class action certification. If granted, other interns who worked at NBC Universal from July 3, 2007, until the date of the final judgment could join the lawsuit. The statute of limitations on wage and employment cases in the state of New York is six years.
The law firm bringing the suit, Outten and Golden, is behind the spate of lawsuits brought against media companies by their former interns. It has represented clients in cases against the Charlie Rose Show, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Hearst and most recently Conde Nast. Last month, a judge ruled in favor of former interns at Fox Searchlight, which many legal experts took as a sure sign that more lawsuits would come, although Fox Searchlight has appealed.
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