!

Case Background and Details

Impact on Higher Education

Social Justice

Institutional Types

Activity

Conclusion and Questions

Unpaid interns
Not students

No academic credit

Menial tasks

Violation of federal labor laws to be classied as unpaid interns,

not employees
Was Fox Searchlight the employer?

Were the interns employees covered

by Fair Labor Standards Act?

Formal control test (4 criteria)

Functional control test (6 criteria)

Hiring and ring power

Supervise or control work
schedules or conditions
Determined rate and method of
payment
Maintained employment
records

Premises and equipment used

for work
Shifting amongst putative joint
employers
Perform discrete line-job
integral to process of
production
Responsibility pass between
subcontractors without changes
Degree of supervising work
Working exclusively or
predominantly for company

Walling v. Portland Terminal Co.

(1947)
Trainee exception
Did not displace
regular employees
Did not expedite
business
No expectation of
compensation or
hiring
Training similar to
vocational school
No immediate
advantage to
employer

DOL Fact Sheet #71 (2010)

Similar to training in
educational
environment
For benet of intern
No regular
employees displaced
No immediate
advantage to
employer
Intern not necessarily
entitled to job at end
Understanding of no
wages

! Did the District Court apply the correct

standard in evaluating if Glatt and Footman

were employees?

! Did they reach the correct result?

Clear understanding of no expectation of compensation

Training similar to an educational environment

Tied to formal education program by integrated coursework or

academic credit

Accommodates interns academic commitments by corresponding

to academic calendar

Internship limited to period that will provide benecial learning

Work complements, rather than displaces, paid employees while

giving signicant educational benets to the intern

Understanding of no entitlement to paid job at conclusion

Unpaid internships are common in higher education

! Academic requirements
! Encouraged as a networking opportunity

(Burke & Carton, 2013; Jones & Seltzer, 2015; McDermott, 2013; Tepper & Holt, 2015)

Functional areas
!
!
!
!

Career Services
Academic Advising
Curriculum Design
Faculty

Internships should have certain qualities

(Burke & Carton, 2013; Jones & Seltzer, 2015; Tepper & Holt, 2015)

Internships must have educational value

(Jones & Seltzer, 2015; Tepper & Holt, 2015)

Some schools have stopped advertising unpaid

internships (NYU)
(Mangan, 2014)
Some schools have stopped oering credit for
unpaid internships (Columbia, Harvard, Yale)
(Mangan, 2014)

Educators have spoken of connection between

unpaid internships and education
(American Council on Education, 2015)

Necessity of internships
Education is for those who can aord it
Racial Divide
Furthers class divisions once in job market

Interns are a vulnerable population

Less protection in the workplace
Burke & Carton, 2013; Greer & Grenell, 2015; Jones & Seltzer, 2015; McDermott, 2013

Continuation
would exclude:

Discontinuation
would exclude:

Low SES, Racial Divide

International students
Adult students

Students who are parents

Anyone seeking career growth
Students who would be aorded
protections under Civil Rights Laws

Community College
Vocational training aspect?
Student population

4-Year Private
Focus on placement

For

Against

Educational
experience

Favors more
auent
students

Industry
experience and
connections

Not protected
under labor
rights laws

Unnamed University is considering to stop

advertising and oering credit for unpaid
internships. Decide what stance each person/
group would take and make an argument to the
university to persuade it in that direction.
! Career Services Professional
! Faculty Member
! Student
! Employer

Is this about
regulating employment
or
regulating education?

Adams, S. (2015, July 7). Why the second circuit made a awed decision in upholding unpaid internships. Forbes. Retrieved
from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2015/07/07/why-the-second-circuit-made-a-awed-decision-in-upholdingunpaid-internships/

American Council on Education. (2015). Federal Appeals Court: Legality of Unpaid
Internships Depends on Educational Value of Work. Retrieved from
http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/Federal-Appeals-Court-Legality-of-Unpaid-Internships-Depends-onEducational-Value-of-Work.aspx

Binder, J.F., Baguley, T., Crook, C., & Miller, F. (2015). The academic value of internships: Benets across disciplines and
student backgrounds. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 41, 73-82. doi: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2014.12.001

Burke, D.D., & Carton, R. (2013). The pedagogical, legal, and ethical implications of unpaid internships. Journal of Legal
Studies Education, 30(1), 99-130. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-1722.2013.01115.x

Cohen, A.M., Brawer, F.B., & Kisker, C. (2014). The American community college (6th edition).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Grasgreen, A. (2013, August 2). Unpaid internships not dead yet. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/02/ocials-skeptical-unpaid-intern-lawsuits-will-aect-higher-education

Greer, C. & Grenell, A. (2015, December 3). Presidential candidates ignore the costs of unpaid internships. The Washington
Post. Retrieved from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/presidential-candidates-ignore-the-costs-of-unpaid-internships/
2015/12/03/07436850-99d6-11e5-94f0-9eea906ef3_story.html

Jones, M., & Seltzer, J. (2015). Should criminal justice interns be paid? The black swan case and beyond. Journal of Criminal
Justice Education, 26(2), 185-210. doi: 10.1080/10511253.2014.976582

Mangan, K. (2014, May 2). Colleges ask court for deference on unpaid internships. Chronicle of Higher Education, 60(33).

McDermott, C. (2013, July 5). Colleges draw criticism for role in fostering unpaid internships. Chronicle of Higher Education,
59(41), p. A13-A13.
Tepper, R.J., & Holt, M.P. (2015). Unpaid internships: Free labor or valuable learning experience? Brigham Young University
Education & Law Journal, (1), 323-352.

Yosso, T.J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race Ethnicity
and Education, 8(1), 69-91. doi: 10.1080/1361332052000341006

Court Cases Cited
Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc., No. 11 Civ. 6748 (WHP) (S.D.N.Y. June 11, 2013)
Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc., 791 F.3d 376 (2d Cir. 2015)
Walling v. Portland Terminal Co., 330 U.S. 148 (1947)