In a breaking article WWD revealed that Condé Nast would be
discontinuing its internship program beginning in 2014. The cause of the
program termination is the lawsuit brought to the publisher this past summer by
two former interns at W and The New Yorker who claimed they were paid below
minimum wage. With further research it is revealed that the interns stated they
were being paid around $12 for long days; one of the accusers comparing her
experience to a real life “Devil Wears Prada” situation. In August it was reported
by Huffington Post that Condé Nast was beginning to stop all pay to interns.
This seems to be a trend for many other media companies in
the industry. A former intern at
Harper’s Bazaar sued the magazine in February of 2012 over violation of minimum
wage and overtime regulations. The case needed to be appealed by the former
employee because it was dismissed by a judge and continues to be unsettled. Two
interns were successful in their case over similar desecrations of the Fox Searchlight
Company this June. It was after this case that the man and woman who had
previously interned at Condé Nast publications in 2009 and 2010 filed their lawsuit.
Current interns will not be affected by this decision, and it is unclear how
many an average class of the internship averages – the number that will no
longer have this opportunity. Representatives from WWD, a part of Condé Nast,
have not contributed any other comments.
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