Warner Music Group settled its lawsuit brought by plaintiffs Kyle Grant and Justin Henry. The plaintiff’s attorney penned a letter to the judge, stating that both parties has reached an agreement. Grant’s story was documented in a Newsweek article last year. In the article, the former unpaid intern for Warner Music Group accused the company of unlawful practices. Grant said he spent most of his internship time “fetching drinks and lunch orders” for music executives. Grant claimed he was doing, “Things that have nothing to do with working in radio promotions.”
According to the federal Department of Labor, “an unpaid internship must be for the benefit of the intern, rather than the employer.” Grant said he spent so much time at Warner Music’s offices, that he didn’t have a lot of time to study (he was going to school during an internship) or handle his personal business. Grant claimed Warner Music expects their unpaid interns to arrive early and leave late. Grant was reportedly working from 9am to 9pm every day. When he did miss a few days to handle personal matters, he feared his internship was in jeopardy. After eight months at Warner Music, Grant was reportedly fired for “taking too much time for his lunch break.” Grant claims he did not have a scheduled time to eat lunch. Grant felt his was treated unfairly at Warner Music, and he felt the company practiced unlawful acts during his internship. Grant said those reasons brought about his lawsuit.
Justin Henry has not spoken publicly about his lawsuit against Warner Music, but his claims were very similar to Grant’s accusations. Henry’s lawsuit stated his duties during his unpaid internship included answering phones, preparing coffee, and running personal errands for paid Warner Music employees. The amount of money Warner Music has agreed to pay Grant and Henry has not been released to the public yet. Warner Music Group is not the first, or certainty not the last, company to face unpaid internship lawsuits. Viacom, NBCUniversal, ICM Partners, and Fox have also been sued by their former interns. A few days ago, Allyson Kocivar filed a lawsuit against Wenner Media, the parent company of Rolling Stone magazine and US Weekly. Kocivar has enlisted Kyle Grant and Justin Henry’s attorney.