Second Circuit Rejects the Department of Labor Test for the Lawful Employment of Unpaid Interns

In a much anticipated decision in Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently adopted the “primary beneficiary” test for determining whether individuals performing services for no compensation have been properly classified as “unpaid interns” or are, in fact, “employees” who have been improperly denied wages mandated by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The district court, in an opinion that received a great deal of attention, had ruled that the plaintiffs were employees for FLSA purposes, applying the factors enumerated in the test proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The Second Circuit rejected the DOL’s test and, accordingly, reversed the district court’s order granting the plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment and their motion to certify a collective action.