After five years of presumably not working in the entertainment industry, whistle-blowing Black Swan interns Eric Glatt and Alexander Footman are finally ending their days in court: Fox has agreed to settle. The lawsuit was originally placed against the studio in 2011 when Glatt and Footman argued that their work, mainly serving coffee, on the set of the 2010 Oscar-winning movie fell under what should be classified as paid work, and in 2013, the court agreed. The court ruled that Glatt, Footman, and more than 100 Fox Searchlight interns were due back-pay as former employees, and the case led to a slew of similar suits filed against other media companies. Fox appealed the ruling, but now, like other studios in the same position before it — including NBCUniversal, Lionsgate, and Viacom — the giant and the interns have filed a proposed-settlement stipulation with the court.
The settlement, if approved, grants about $495 to each of the interns who worked in the New York City offices of Fox Entertainment Group, Fox Filmed Entertainment, Fox Networks Group, and Fox Interactive Media between 2005-2010. The original plaintiffs, Glatt and Footman, get rewarded more for their trouble with $7,500 and $6,000, respectively, and Eden Antalik, who was late joining the game in a special amended complaint in 2012, takes home $3,500. The real winners, however, are the plaintiffs’ law firm — it’ll collect $220,000 in fees and services. Who knew that a career in law was so much more lucrative than interning?
