Conde Nast Ends Internship Program Following Lawsuits

Getty Images

Publisher was sued by former interns. Now everyone will be “former intern”

Conde Nast has decided to end its internship program after two of its former interns sued the publisher for unpaid wages.

A spokeswoman for Conde told TheWrap that it would be discontinuing its internship program, but would not comment on the reason why.

Also read: Conde Nast Interns Sue Publisher For Unpaid Wages

Conde stopped paying interns in its program over the summer, following a class action suit filed against the company by two of its former paid (but not paid enough, they said) interns. Now it is ending the program altogether. The current 2013-14 internship class will be its last.

Several media companies have been sued for treating interns as employees without paying them employee wages, including Gawker Media, Hearst, Fox Searchlight and Conde, which was sued in June by Matthew Lieb, who interned at the New Yorker in 2009 and 2010, and Lauren Ballinger, who worked at W Magazine in 2009.

Also read: Hollywood Intern Lawsuit Panic: Who's Really Paying the Price?

Though both internships were paid, the rate was significantly less than than of an employee, and the interns allege that they were made to perform employee duties. The class action suit covers over 100 interns, though it isn't known how many have joined.

Women's Wear Daily first reported the news.

US Labor Law

How much you wanna bet THE WRAP uses unpaid or underpaid interns. You can totally tell by the tone of this piece and how they make it seem like it's the fault of interns that Conde Naste is ending their illegal unpaid or underpaid internship.

I see no mention of US Labor Law in the article and how it says you must pay people that do a job for you, hence an employee, at least minimum wage for the hours they work. Or how entitled companies like Conde Naste and other large corporations feel they can just break the very clear US Labor Laws and exploit people.

The real story here is, these Conde Naste bastards are too cheap to pay minimum wage, therefore they are trying to spin this in their favor. And it really shows the Koch Brotherly like rag tag organization the Wrap is for allowing them to spin it in their favor and not taking them to task.
- Booger Eater
  
  Dude, relax. Maybe get some fresh air?
  - US Labor Law
    
    Relax when it's a given that entertainment companies constantly break the law and exploit people??? This ain't China – we're not supposed to work people until they commit suicide.
    
    We have laws where people get paid for their work. We no longer have sweatshops, except for Hollywood and the Ent. Industry which feels like they are above the law. Why? Because you get to work for celebrities… rich celebrities!
    
    So why not just pay minimum wage and overtime for hours worked? Why is that such a difficult concept to grasp? And how come all the winey @sshole company men always come out and talk about entitlement, how these interns are entitled. Yes they are, to a fair wage, or at least minimum wage, under the law. Why do corporations feel entitled to exploit the working class for little to no pay?
    
    I'm just glad these whistleblowing hero interns are sticking up for their rights and fighting for the payment they are due under the law.
    - Romanized
      
      Congress breaks the law by having unpaid interns. There are plenty of hypocrites on capital hill on this issue.
Brett Delong

This isnt the kind of internship you just walk into. It is very competitive but is invaluable for a career in the media. They knew what they were getting into but still decided to express their gratitude by cashing in at the cost of everyone behind them even though they always had the option of leaving if they weren't happy with their situation. Typical entitled leftists. I hope they are shuffling fries somewhere.