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LA Clippers Face Intern Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit

LOS ANGELES — A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed against the Los Angeles Clippers recently. The lawsuit alleges the basketball team and its owner misclassified employees as unpaid interns to avoid paying proper wages and overtime. The former employee, who filed the lawsuit, claims the misclassification was intentional and a violation of both state labor law and the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The Intern’s Claim

Frank Cooper, a former LA Clippers’ employee, was an unpaid intern and fan relations staffer for the team. As a fan relations staffer, Cooper organized clinics and camps for fans, assisted in office work related to mailing season tickets, prizes, and gifts, and supervised autograph sessions. He claims the program was meant to train the unpaid interns, but it did not; it did, however, provide the basketball team with free labor. Cooper claims the work the basketball team required unpaid interns do was similar to that of paid employees. According to his lawsuit, the LA Clippers would have needed to hire additional employees or significantly extended current paid employees’ hours if the team did not have an intern program. His lawsuit claims the interns did not have a set schedule, but regularly worked 40 to 50 hours a week. If the class is certified it is expected to include current and former unpaid interns who worked for the team from September 2012 to present.

Unpaid Interns

Paid interns are considered to be “employees” in the full sense of the word. Unpaid interns are individuals who agree to work for an employer without monetary compensation. Unpaid interns may receive other forms of compensation, but they are not considered “employees” under labor laws because of their unpaid status. Because they are not considered “employees,” employers are not required to provide minimum wage, overtime, or other benefits.

To protect employees and other individuals from being exploited through volunteer and intern programs, employers are not allowed to use volunteers or unpaid interns to do the work of paid employees. And employers are not supposed to gain immediate advantage from an intern’s work if the intern is not paid. That is why one of the key features of an unpaid internship is the learning aspect of the internship. Employers with unpaid internships must be able to show that the intern program is for the benefit of the intern, provides learning experiences similar to that taught in a classroom, and the intern does not displace a regular employee. Cooper does not believe the LA Clippers can meet these requirements.

If you are a current or former unpaid intern and you believe you employer’s program fails to meet the unpaid internship requirements, you may be entitled to wages and possibly overtime. Contact our knowledgeable team of overtime pay lawyers today at (855) 754-2795 or complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form and our experienced legal team will evaluate your case. If we accept your case, we will represent you under our No Fee Promise. This means there are no legal fees or costs unless you receive a settlement.

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