Industry Spotlight: Wage and hour class actions in fashion
Wage and hour actions filed against design houses by former interns are in fashion. So far in 2015, Lacoste, Zac Posen’s House of Z and Burberry have been sued by former interns, and last year Marc Jacobs, Oscar de la Renta, Calvin Klein, Gucci and Kenneth Cole all faced similar suits.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has six criteria by which an internship program can determine if its participants are exempt from the FLSA. Minimum wage and overtime requirements do not apply to interns who receive educational-style training, receive benefit from the internship, do not displace regular employees, whose work does not provide the employer with any immediate advantage, is not entitled to a job at the end of the internship, and understands his or her work is not for wages.
The following paragraphs explore a number of recent high profile wage and hour cases in the fashion industry.
Lacoste‘s parent company, Devanlay, was sued by a former unpaid intern who alleges he worked 20-25 hours per week performing tasks such as scanning and filing, creating spreadsheets, researching tax records, and running errands. The suit argues that the plaintiff was not provided training, and that Devanlay benefited from the intern’s work.
Zac Posen‘s ‘House of Z’ was sued by a former unpaid intern who claims he worked 21 hours per week and sketched, cut clothing patterns, organized materials, sewed, tested fabric, performed research, and ran errands. The suit says “Zac Posen’s unlawful conduct has caused significant damages to the named plaintiff and the putative class.”
The suit against Burberry was filed by an intern from 2012 who alleges she worked over 30 hours per week and was not paid despite washing dishes, serving refreshments, taking inventory and performing administrative tasks. The complaint states that Burberry “has maintained a policy and practice of failing to provide compensation at the statutory minimum wage rate for all hours worked to named plaintiff and members of the putative class.”
The former unpaid intern who sued Marc Jacobs alleged she worked for a whopping 70 hours per week running errands, sewing and organizing materials. The plaintiff states in the complaint that “Marc Jacobs’s unlawful conduct had been pursuant to a corporate policy or practice of minimizing labor costs by denying the named plaintiff and the putative class compensation.” The complaint states that at least 50 former interns would be part of the putative class.
Gucci was sued by a lead plaintiff who alleged she and other unpaid interns worked in Gucci’s flagship Fifth Avenue store in New York City improperly classified as minimum wage exempt employees, in violation of New York labor law. The claim alleges the interns received no educational training, and that without their work, Gucci would have had to employ more staff to perform the tasks interns performed.
A former Oscar de la Renta intern filed suit for allegedly not being compensated properly for producing jewelry, dressing models and delivering accessories. The case was filed just days before the founder of the fashion house passed away.
The lead plaintiff is seeking damages for unpaid minimum wages plus interest and attorneys’ fees and costs for a class of approximately 40 unpaid interns. The de la Renta legal team is seeking a stay in the lawsuit until ten days after a decision in Glatt v Fox and Wang v. Hearst, both dealing with intern classification.
Calvin Klein‘s former intern sued for allegedly working 28-30 hours per week and performing tasks such as data entry, research and producing fashion shows. The complaint alleges that Calvin Klein’s “conduct had been pursuant to a corporate practice of minimizing labor costs by denying plaintiff and the putative class compensation in violation of [New York Labor Law] and its implementing regulations.”
Finally, a former intern filed a wage and hour class action suit against Kenneth Cole for allegedly working up to 30 hours per week and performing work that included designing and sketching, organizing production, running errands and performing administrative tasks. The complaint states that the class includes over 50 individuals and is suing for all compensation, including minimum wages, attorneys’ fees and costs.
The outcome of these cases will set the precedent for future internship exemption practices and may lead to the complete elimination of unpaid internships.
