What initially started as a rumor about overworked interns, has turned into a full out class-action lawsuit. Over 40 plaintiffs are suing Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen for requiring them to work grueling hours, with little to no pay, at their fashion house The Row. The suit, which was filed with the Manhattan Supreme Court, alleges that the celebrity twins failed to properly pay interns who were working 50-hour workweeks on average or even give them college credits.
The main plaintiff, Shahista Lalani, who worked for the company for five months as a technical designer intern, claimed that she was working 50+ hour workweeks doing the same menial jobs as their paid co-workers, but without the proper compensation. “[The head technical designer] was very demanding. I was doing the work of three interns. I was talking to her all day, all night. Emails at nighttime for the next day, like 10 p.m. at night,” she told Page Six. “You’re like an employee, except you’re not getting paid. They’re kind of mean to you. Other interns have cried. I’d see a lot of kids crying doing coffee runs, photocopying stuff.”
Lalani makes note that these insufferable conditions were created by co-workers and in-office managers that never allowed them to take breaks, made them clean the office, sent them on personal errands or gave them menial tasks like button-sorting in addition to their intern work. She says explicitly that the few times she saw Mary-Kate and Ashley they were kind and “never mean to anyone.”
Dualstar, the Olsen-owned group whose subsidiaries include their fashion brands Elizabeth & James and The Row, refused to comment on the allegations at first, but this morning fired back with a strong statement. “As an initial matter, Dualstar is an organization that is committed to treating all individuals fairly and in accordance with all applicable laws. The allegations in the complaint filed against Dualstar are groundless, and Dualstar will vigorously defend itself against plaintiff's claims in court, not before the media,” spokesperson Annett Wolf told USA Today. “Dualstar is confident that once the true facts of this case are revealed, the lawsuit will be dismissed in its entirety.”
