Two fashion houses, Marc Jacobs International and Oscar de la Renta, have become the latest in the fashion industry to be hit with unpaid internship lawsuits.
Marc Jacobs International, which houses the brands Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc Jacobs, has been sued by former intern, Linney Warren, for failing to pay interns. Warren was a production intern for Marc Jacobs from April to June 2009.

In her complaint, she claims that Marc Jacobs’ internship program violates New York state law and misclassifies entry level employees as interns in an effort to avoid paying employees and minimizing costs. Warren claims that during her internship she worked 70-hour weeks and performed tasks such as transporting raw materials, organizing fabrics, sewing and running errands for her supervisors.
Oscar de la Renta was also sued this week by former intern, Monica Ramirez, who interned for the brand between January and April 2009, for failure to pay interns.
In her complaint, Ramirez claims that the fashion house also improperly classifies entry level employees at interns and therefore avoids paying these employees. Ramirez claims that the work she performed is classified as entry level rather than intern work. These tasks included making jewelry, delivery fabric and accessories and dressing models.

As mentioned above, Ramirez is claiming that Oscar de la Renta is violating New York state law rather than the more common Fair Labor Standards Act that many unpaid internship lawsuits are predicated on. Both lawsuits claim that each company is violating the standards set out by the New York state law for determining whether an individual is classified as an intern or an employee.
Continue Reading →