NBCUniversal Inc. is the latest media giant on the receiving end of an intern-feuled class action complaint.
Attorneys Outten & Golden LLP filed the document Wednesday in New York Federal court, alleging that NBCUniversal violated federal Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law. The complaint was filed on behalf of two former interns, Jesse Moore and Monet Eliastam.
“This case is similar to others than we’ve filed in that it highlights the predominance of unpaid work in the media industry,” one of their attorneys, Juno Turner told TheWrap. “Our clients, like the plaintiffs in the other cases, worked hard for no pay and we think it’s clear that they should have been compensated for that work because they contributed to the success of NBCUniversal’s operation.”
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Moore regularly worked 24 or more hours per week in the booking department at MSNBC in 2011, according to the court doc. Eliastam regularly worked 25 or more hours per week at “Saturday Night Live” in 2012. Neither plaintiff was paid any wages.
The plaintiffs’ law firm is attempting to have the lawsuit certified as a class action in order to recover unpaid wages, interest, and attorneys’ fees and costs for interns who worked at NBCUniversal between July 3, 2010 and the date of a final judgment.
This case is “Jesse Moore and Monet Eliastam, et al., v. NBCUniversal, Inc.,” No 13 CV 4634, in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. Outten & Golden also represents interns in the Fox Searchlight case, the case against Conde Nast, the case against Hearst Corporation and the case again Charlie Rose.