Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's company, Dualstar Entertainment Group, is accused of working at least 40 interns to the bone with 50-hour work weeks, personal errand runs, and the kicker—no pay or academic credits. But the famous twins say that no laws were violated—and they want the case thrown out.
Shahista Lalani claims that her internship with Dualstar Entertainment Group forced her into performing menial tasks for such long hours that dehydration landed her in the hospital. Her class-action lawsuit against the company earlier this year demanded that Dualstar pay all former and current interns minimum wage for the long hours they worked.
Now, the Olsens are demanding that the case be thrown out, and are saying that Lalani lied about her mistreatment. And they want her to pay the attorney fees that the case rang up.
We don't know whether Lalani's claims were true, but if they are, we can only hope that justice will be served. The free labor practices of troubling internships is truly poisonous, and a bummer for young workers. Hopefully, this doesn't deter companies from being valuable mentors to young, fledgling designers. But a full-time job without pay? No way.
(via Daily Mail)
