102 Iowa L. Rev. 1757 (2017)

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Abstract

Unpaid interns are a vulnerable group of people in the modern workforce that neither Congress nor the courts know quite how to deal with in relation to federal protection for workers. Specifically, modern courts have trouble with deciding when and whether unpaid interns are classified as employees. This Note discusses the various tests courts use to determine who is an employee deserving of minimum wage and discrimination protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"). Both statutes define "employee" vaguely, yet each boast their own unique set of various and conflicting tests. With the increasing number of interns in the workforce, the federal statutes now have to incorporate an employment relationship that did not exist in the original conception of employment. Many of the tests lack the capacity to properly protect unpaid interns even when the interns, in effect, act like employees. In order to simplify the tests, comply with legislative intent, and balance the competing interests of employers and employee this Note argues that the Supreme Court should adopt a modified version of the primary beneficiary test as articulated in the Second Circuit's decision in Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc., when evaluating whether interns are employees under the FLSA and Title VII.