Labor / Employment

This Lawyer's Unpaid Internship And The Worst Generation

That a successful celebrity lawyer wants an unpaid intern to basically be his publicist says a lot about Millennials.

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Millennials get the “Worst Generation” tag a lot.

They’re called lazy good-for-nothings. Just like every generation of 20-somethings before them. My Gen X cohort were called slackers. The Boomers were labeled dropouts. Before them were the “rebels without a cause” of the 50s. Basically every generation that didn’t spend its 20s punching out Hitler or Kaiser Bill gets branded as lazy. Curiously, the people doing that branding are almost never the generation that actually did any of the punching.

They’re also tagged as coddled. Mommy and daddy take care of everything for these precious, entitled snowflakes. Why can’t they just go out and get a job (I mean, other than the raging tire fire of an economy that they graduated into)?

Or maybe the real problem isn’t that the Millennials are lazy and coddled, but that they’re working their asses off in jobs that pay them nothing because self-important children of the 60s think they’re such beautiful and unique snowflakes that kids should be willing to volunteer for the privilege of basking in the presence of a “master.” And it’s not an exaggeration to lay the blame on the flower power generation: the phenomenon of unpaid internships have skyrocketed over the last 30 years.

Prior to this, the history of unpaid internships can be loosely recapped thusly:

1. Unpaid internships OK
2. The North wins the Civil War
3. Unpaid internships frowned upon
4. Today

(For a more complete account from the FLSA to Portland Terminal and beyond, check out Natalie Bacon’s article here.)

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What prompted the change? It’s not that the law has eased up on allowing unpaid internships — though it has eased up on allowing you to sexually harass them — there’s just a massive increase in people who believe they are too important to be denied free labor.

Like this guy, Jeffrey Steinberger. Steinberger, a University of West Los Angeles School of Law grad, celebrity criminal defense attorney, and TV legal commentator feels his stature and the glamour of showing up on CNN once in awhile entitles him to free labor. The practice is by no means struggling, but you know, he’s earned free labor — the word “celebrity” is in his chyron! He’s up on Craigslist looking for an intern to receive a whopping $0.00 to be, apparently, his publicist. Who could resist? The listing offers the most delicate of breaths upon the “educational” opportunity at issue:

-Must have advanced administrative skills including:
-Must have GOOD writing skills!

Wants to learn TV Production, Press Releases, and PR!

Oh, it’s about learning! As opposed to paid employees who glean nothing from their jobs, plodding through the day like the Mindless Ones in the service of the Dread Dormammu. Only freedom from the shackles of petty “compensation” can permit learning on the job. Seriously though, this identifiable, if flimsy, reference to what an intern can “learn” is a key component of this listing. It’s a nod to the legal regime that makes nearly all of these unpaid internships illegal, regardless of what perusing Craigslist and Monster might suggest. Labor law evaluates six criteria to determine if an unpaid internship is actually legal:

These factors include whether the internship is similar to training that would be given in an educational environment, whether it is for the benefit of the intern, whether the intern displaces regular employees, whether the employer derives immediate advantage, whether the intern isn’t necessarily entitled to a job after the conclusion of the internship, and the understanding about no entitlement to wages.

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With the exception of the word “learn” in the listing, there’s not much suggesting this gig isn’t just acting as an entry-level publicist for free. And that would not only be illegal, it would be immoral. The crux of the free market is paying people for goods and services. Unpaid internships not only shutoff entry-level jobs to those unable to fall back on family to support them through indentured servitude, but it blocks everyone else from accruing job experience. Ironically, the stereotype of the Millennial is selected for by the very older generation bitching about them by limiting opportunities for low-level work to inexperienced kids with indulgently supportive parents.

The next time some hack kvetches about Millennials working at Starbucks with an Ivy League degree, remember that’s probably the best paying job they could get because someone along the way turned the entry-level PR jobs of yesteryear into “free learning experiences.” You want to get these Millennials into paying jobs and off their parent’s credit cards? Then end the unpaid internship. And that’s not a task for the Millennials, that’s something that can only be done by the Boomers (and to a small but growing extent, Xers) who think they’re so important they can force kids to work for free giving up their narcissistic worldview. Or getting slapped by Johnny Law.

Which is the worst generation again?

A screenshot of the full ad is available on the next page in case the listing is pulled down off of Craigslist…

Beverly Hills Celebrity Attorney Seeks Interns for New Project! [Craigslist]
Bio [Jeffery W. Steinberger]
Unpaid Internships: The History, Policy, And Future Implications of “Fact Sheet #71” [Ohio State Entrepreneurial Business Law Journal]

Earlier: Uh-Oh! Federal Judge Says We Might Have to Start Paying Interns
If Unpaid Interns Don’t Like Their Bosses, They’ll Hate Justice Alito
‘Tits Or GTFO’ Now A Legitimate Requirement For Unpaid Interns
Federal Judge Generously Offering No Pay For Clerkship

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