House approves bill to expand rights of unpaid interns News
House approves bill to expand rights of unpaid interns

The US House of Representatives [official website] approved legislation [HR 3231] Monday that would expand rights of unpaid interns in the federal government. Currently, unpaid interns are not classified as employees, leaving them unprotected from discrimination under the Civil Rights Act [text]. This bill only involves unpaid interns in the federal government, with two other proposed bills focusing on unpaid interns in congressional offices and interns in the private sector at large. The bill moves next to the Senate [official website] after passing the House with a vote of 414-0 [The Hill report].

The matter of unpaid internships has been a controversial issue [NUS backgrounder] over the past few years. Eric Glatt, one of the plaintiffs in the Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. [text] case that found unpaid internships legal [JURIST report], stated, “[e]very intern who thinks something is questionable has to litigate it. It’s a terrible, terrible burden. Why burden the most vulnerable possible employee with all the heavy work?” The lower court’s 2013 decision in the case sparked other similar lawsuits, prompting Warner Music Group Corp to agree in June to pay over $4.2 million to hundreds of interns.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Justice Department brings anit-trust action against AT&T

On November 20, 1974, the Department of Justice filed its final anti-trust suit against AT&T. United States v. AT&T was ultimately settled out of court with an agreement that the corporation would break up its monopoly on phone service throughout the country.

Nuremberg war crimes trials began

On November 20, 1945, the war crimes trials of Nazi World War II leaders began in the German city of Nuremberg. Review the Nuremberg Tribunal's Charter and the verdicts and sentences handed down on major war figures.

Winston Churchill born

On November 20, 1874, Sir Winston Churchill was born in Woodstock, England. He would go on to lead the United Kingdom as Prime Minister through World War II. Toward the end of the war, Churchill worked with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to craft the treaties and accords that have defined the world since WWII. A 2002 poll by the BBC declared Churchill the Greatest Briton of all time.

New Jersey ratifies Bill of Rights

New Jersey ratified the Bill of Rights, a set of 10 fundamental amendments to the US Constitution, on November 20, 1789, becoming the first state to do so. The state also ratified an amendment on federal representation which ultimately failed. Additionally, New Jersey rejected an amendment on congressional salaries, which would eventually become the 27th Amendment more than 200 years later. Read the articles ratified by New Jersey.