Wave Of Intern Suits Warns Employers To Rethink Policies

John Thompson, editor of the firm's Wage & Hour Laws Blog and a partner in the Atlanta office, was quoted in the August 15 Law360 article "Wave Of Intern Suits Warns Employers To Rethink Policies." The article noted several recent court cases involving former interns alleging wage-and-hour violations. John advised employers to assess the risks of these types of claims. He pointed out that even if a claim is unsuccessful, the employer could get stuck with the costs of defending the claim, negative publicity, and distractions in the workplace. "Employers need to plan and structure their programs and supervise and monitor the activities of their interns to maximize the chances that they can defend the relationship as being a non-employment relationship, keeping in mind the ambiguous standards that are going to be applied if such a claim is made." He added that this could mean reconsidering whether it's worth it to use unpaid interns. "An employer, especially a for-profit employer, first needs to decide whether it is willing to permit unpaid internships at all,"