EDITORIAL: Intern’s lawsuit: martyrdom or career suicide?

College students have more trouble squeezing all of their priorities into one day than a woman at a Weight Watchers meeting does trying to fit back into her pair of skinny jeans.

As for a social life, that has as much room in the world of a productive college student as a cupcake does at a salad bar, unless she wants to kiss all of that hard work goodbye and be cut out of those skinny jeans.

Xuedan Wang, 28, has a bigger problem than trying to revive her social life. Wang is a former intern for fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar and has filed a lawsuit against the magazine’s publisher, Hearst Corporation, stating that labor laws were violated since she was not paid for her time.

The lawsuit claims Wang worked 40-55 hours a week without pay and is now suing Harper’s Bazaar for minimum wage to compensate her for her time.
Internships have become essential in today’s troubling economy. Most college graduates stand little to no chance in the competitive job market without without work experience in the field. This has inspired universities, like University of Houston-Clear Lake, to include internships as part of the degree program for certain areas of study such as education, psychology and communication.

Every university doesn’t require an internship, but students are highly encouraged to participate in at least one.

Internships provide opportunities to network, establish relationships with mentors, develop and enhance skills, and allow students to “test drive” a career and gain real-world experience before they graduate.

Harper’s Bazaar isn’t the only place that requires their interns to work unreasonable hours. The Houston Astros provides an internship for students, as well as men and women returning from active duty, who wish to continue their education during the spring, summer and fall semesters. The Astros Internship website states that all internships are full time and require interns to work a minimum of 32-40 hours each week, unpaid.

Some may view this as cruel, unreasonable and even unethical, but the benefits of those long hours and hard work must be taken into consideration. Those who intern with a well-known, respected company such as the Houston Astros and endure the hardships that come with it will have a resume that stands out from the rest.

No fancy cover letter could possibly compete with such an accomplishment. These interns are not getting paid financially, but they are earning the same thing Wang was earning: experience.

Wang says Harper’s Bazaar “made” her work 40-55 hours a week.  How can a company in the United States of America force someone to work?  You either agree to work the hours or you quit that job.

Like many an eager intern, Wang may have agreed to work the hours and then was contractually bound. Otherwise, if she was so unhappy, why did she stay?

Federal laws state that unpaid internships are legal as long as they’re educational, benefit the intern rather than the supervisor/employee, and don’t involve tasks that would otherwise be given to a paid employee.

To be fair, sometimes unpaid interns are taken for granted and asked to work as many hours, if not more, than paid employees. Unpaid interns can also be asked to work a job equivalent to an entry-level employee without the pay.

Wang’s lawsuit could possibly be the start of a revolution to end the exploitation of interns. If interns are feeling overworked or abused, they should talk to their supervisor or the professor at their college/university in charge of assigning internships until a resolution is reached.

Some may question Wang’s motivation since she filed the lawsuit after her internship was already completed. Perhaps her hopes of being hired by Harper’s Bazaar were crushed and this is her way of retaliating.

If Wang were suing for millions of dollars rather than the minimum-wage back pay for the hours she worked, then perhaps this career-risking move would make more sense. However this case ends, one thing is clear; Wang’s decision to sue has possibly closed the curtains on her own career. She’s either a hero or just plain stupid.