• NY Court: Unpaid interns can’t file sexual harassment charges against employers
    22 replies, posted
[QUOTE]There’s plenty for unpaid interns to [URL="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2013/06/lawsuit-unpaid-film-interns-considered-employees/"]complain[/URL] about—mainly, the lack of money—but apparently it gets worse. Because they’re not paid and don’t receive remuneration such as pension and life insurance, interns don’t always count as employees, which means they’re not always entitled to certain employee protections. For one former unpaid broadcasting intern at Phoenix Satellite Television U.S., that means not being able to bring a sexual harassment claim against her former supervisor, according to a [URL="http://www.bna.com/"]Bloomberg BNA[/URL] report. ... The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found that because Wang was an unpaid intern, not an employee, she could not bring a claim under the New York City Human Rights Law. This discrepancy’s [URL="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/08/09/2444241/unpaid-interns-dont-get-protection-for-sexual-harassment/"]not new[/URL]: Unpaid interns aren’t covered by Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and while local laws can protect them, New York’s state and city laws do not.[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-08/unpaid-intern-not-an-employee-not-protected-from-sexual-harassment[/url]
So basically, if you're an intern you don't get human rights? That's fucking retarded.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;42483129]So basically, if you're an intern you don't get human rights? That's fucking retarded.[/QUOTE] Comparing the retarded to this is insulting to the retarded.
I'm honestly not surprised by much these days, but this is literally shocking to me. They really go to no bounds to dehumanize those with less than them.
Aren't interns supposed to be treated like shit? I mean, that's the stereotype, right?
Unpaid internships. I don't understand people who give away their labor for free in the first place. All that work for a possible recommendation that they could ransom you with. Its really disgusting. If you work for somebody you should be considered an employee.
[QUOTE=viper shtf;42484939]Aren't interns supposed to be treated like shit? I mean, that's the stereotype, right?[/QUOTE] You're joking right? You realize what you just said? [editline]11th October 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=Rangergxi;42484979]Unpaid internships. I don't understand people who give away their labor for free in the first place. All that work for a possible recommendation that they could ransom you with. Its really disgusting. If you work for somebody you should be considered an employee.[/QUOTE] Because it's difficult to get employment during college that's paid and the government won't step in and say no, so companies hire slave workers.
Damn you guys don't get paid for internships in America? I'm starting some vac work with a big company in a couple of months and my pay is $29/hour. Interns should be considered employees, some change has to happen to what the law states on that matter.
[QUOTE=Badballer;42485001]Damn you guys don't get paid for internships in America? [/QUOTE] Depends on the Company. Google interns can make 80k.
That's not an internship, as far as I'm concerned.
They actually make closer to 70k, and it's because it's in silicon valley, which is also expensive as fuck.
Don't they also have food and lodging provided for them by Google too?
[QUOTE=Badballer;42485001]Damn you guys don't get paid for internships in America? I'm starting some vac work with a big company in a couple of months and my pay is $29/hour. Interns should be considered employees, some change has to happen to what the law states on that matter.[/QUOTE] Some of us do. I would get paid ~45k a year if I just worked at my intern's salary year-round, but it's an actual working internship. The unpaid internships are usually based around experience (writing reports and dull work like that), and there are a lot of limits to what interns for those companies are allowed to do. This is absurd, of course, that she can't file sexual harassment charges...
[QUOTE=viper shtf;42484939]Aren't interns supposed to be treated like shit? I mean, that's the stereotype, right?[/QUOTE] When has going by stereotype ever been a good thing?
[QUOTE=Rangergxi;42484979]Unpaid internships. I don't understand people who give away their labor for free in the first place. [/QUOTE] Because it's required by practically every course to have run at least two (half) years of internship? Because it shows the way the actual business somebody is learning for will be instead of just going to school and never seeing their work in practice? Because an internship (more often than not) can teach somebody a WHOLE lot more than school (which is more a fault of schools, though, imho). Not saying I'm happy not getting paid in my current internship, but sometimes it's just how it works. [B]Edit:[/B] I should really stop drifting off topic because of what other people said. How is there no law in NY against sexual harassment makes no sence. Isn't it just illegal, like, everywhere? Then again, the differences in laws across the states seem weird to me too. Though some laws that get pushed down from Europe seem pretty weird too.
[QUOTE=Rangergxi;42484979]Unpaid internships. I don't understand people who give away their labor for free in the first place. [/QUOTE] I think you are either privileged or ignorant. I worked unpaid for 5 months while looking for real work. I knew my employer was taking advantage of my situation but I learnt a hell of alot, It was pretty relaxed and it got me a real job in a field I wanted to work in.
[QUOTE=Del91;42485109]Don't they also have food and lodging provided for them by Google too?[/QUOTE] They have a campus with living areas and cafeterias. It looks amazing.
[QUOTE=mdeceiver79;42486499]I think you are either privileged or ignorant. I worked unpaid for 5 months while looking for real work. I knew my employer was taking advantage of my situation but I learnt a hell of alot, It was pretty relaxed and it got me a real job in a field I wanted to work in.[/QUOTE] more like you getting conned for 5 months.
[QUOTE=Rangergxi;42484979]Unpaid internships. I don't understand people who give away their labor for free in the first place. All that work for a possible recommendation that they could ransom you with. Its really disgusting. If you work for somebody you should be considered an employee.[/QUOTE] Because sometimes it is literally the only way you will get degree relevant experience
[QUOTE=Samiam22;42486552]more like you getting conned for 5 months.[/QUOTE] In most cases, you don't just walk into a software developer job from off the street.
[QUOTE=Samiam22;42486552]more like you getting conned for 5 months.[/QUOTE] You say that, and yet you live in the UK, where it's (apparently) exceedingly difficult to get even the most basic job flipping hamburgers. The people who are taking the internships are increasing their chances of getting a well-paying job in an economy that is shit.
[QUOTE=mdeceiver79;42486569]In most cases, you don't just walk into a software developer job from off the street.[/QUOTE] He's not saying you should have been able to get a job like that so easily, rather you should have been paid for the internship.
[QUOTE=Craigewan;42486555]Because sometimes it is literally the only way you will get degree relevant experience[/QUOTE] If you can't find paid work in your chosen field, that may be a big sign that you ought to find another field. Paid internships are not impossible to come by, most people just set their sights too narrowly on exactly what kind of job they want. I studied game design in college and even in that industry, one with enormous competition and people willing to work for free, most people get paid internships. Legally a company cannot have an unpaid intern to do a job they would normally pay for. Don't go offering to work for free and you can always find something better.
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