Condé Nast to Pay $5.8 Million USD in Intern Lawsuit

The well-publicized case involving Condé Nast‘s failure to pay thousands of former interns has been resolved. The class-action lawsuit against the media and entertainment conglomerate has resulted in an agreement to pay out $5.8 million USD to compensate for lost wages. The company encompasses several high-end magazines such as Vogue and Vanity Fair of which were accused to pay little to nothing for the services of their interns. One of the more severe experiences was that of Lauren Ballinger, who worked for approximately $1 per hour when she was organizing accessories in the fashion closet at W Magazine and thus became one of the lead plaintiffs in the case. Despite Condé Nast’s internship program being canceled shortly after the lawsuit was filed in 2013, Chief Executive Officer Chuck Townsend maintains that the company’s magazine internships “were among the best in the media business.” Regardless, the settlement means that former interns dating back as far as June 2007 are expected to receive payments ranging from $700 USD to $1,900 USD according to the settlement, and this decision should set a precedent in the treatment of future interns within the industry. Let us know what you think about the settlement below.