I have been following the protracted saga developing in the
Second Circuit concerning whether interns are employees. Recently,
this Circuit overturned a lower court decision that granted
conditional certification to an intern (and the putative class)
alleging that they were statutory employees. That case is entitled
Glatt et al. v. Fox Searchlight Pictures Inc.
Concomitantly, in Wang v. The Hearst Corp., the Second
Circuit upheld a ruling that denied certification in another intern
case.
The appellate court concluded that the "primary beneficiary
test" should be utilized to determine if the plaintiffs were
employees, rather than the test espoused by the plaintiffs, which
was the individuals would be deemed employees if their
"employer" derived some immediate benefit from their
work.
