Mary-Kate And Ashley Olsen Open Up About Intern Lawsuit
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen had a profitable business even before Full House was cancelled. By the time they were young women, they were already billionaires thanks to their growing empire of home movies and clothes that were sold in different retail stores.
Since dropping out of NYU, the twins have left acting completely and have focused on their clothing line. Although their parents started their empire, the Olsen twins seem to work very hard at their business. Things seemed to be going well for Dualstar Entertainment Group, until this past August.
According to People magazine, a former intern filed a class-action suit against the company. In the original report, it was said that the intern was suing for working without receiving any compensation or college credit.
Interns are reportedly suing Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen for ridiculous hours and lack of pay: http://t.co/P8jQBReHmi pic.twitter.com/1YxgSG6SAB
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) August 11, 2015
The lawsuit stated that Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen failed to pay up to 40 past and present interns. In addition, the lawsuit stated that that the twins didn’t give school credit for the work that their interns did. One former intern in particular, Shahista Lalani, who worked for The Row, said that she was treated badly, worked completely for free and was hospitalized for dehydration due to the ridiculous schedule that she had to keep while working at Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s fashion label.
As for her workload, the former intern said that she was doing the workload of three interns, and worked at all hours of the day. She described her hours as 50-hour weeks where she inputted data, ran personal errands for other paid employees, organized various materials, and other general clerical duties that were standard for interns.
That said, it is not standard to work 50-hour work weeks as an intern, and some businesses have rules that won’t let interns work over a specified number of hours per week. Apparently, Dualstar doesn’t have this practice in place.
Lalani also said that Dualstar interns were working in such poor conditions that they were reduced to tears. “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 said she believes that interns should be paid minimum wage for their duties at Dualstar or receive vocational credit.
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Deny Former Intern’s Allegations – http://t.co/087zP04vT8 pic.twitter.com/X4iBLQRCx7
— POWER 107.9 (@POWER1079) September 25, 2015
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have responded to these claims. According to People magazine, “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. Dualstar is confident that once the true facts of this case are revealed, the lawsuit will be dismissed in its entirety.”
In addition, the company says that Lalani’s claims that the company fails “to provide compensation at the statutory minimum wage rate for all hours workers” is simply not true. Dualstar goes on to say that Lalani is an “”inadequate class representative” and that “at no time did Dualstar act in a willful, wanton, reckless and/or malicious manner.”
Although Lalani is suing the Olsen twins’ company, she never worked directly under Mary-Kate or Ashley Olsen, but did see them at meetings and liked them as people. “They were never mean to anyone. They’re business people,” said the former intern.
Prior to the lawsuit, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen opened up a flagship store for their luxury label, The Row. The store is located in Los Angeles and features a swimming pool inside the store.
[Photo by Robin Marchant/Getty Images]
