We’ve written about the abuse of interns previously. At the time, we were focused on the all-too-common practice of using unpaid interns to augment the workforce, a violation of labor law that occurs frequently in the entertainment industry. But whether paid or unpaid, it is clear that interns and volunteers must be treated with the same dignity and respect as are paid employees and independent contractors.

Indeed, Assembly Bill 1443 recently amended the Fair Employment and Housing Act to prohibit discrimination in the selection, termination, training or treatment of unpaid interns. In addition, AB 1443 prohibits the unlawful harassment of interns or volunteers and extends religious belief or observance protections to unpaid interns, apprentices and to participants in any unpaid work experience program.

This blog is presented under protest by the law firm of Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP.  It is essentially the random thoughts and opinions of someone who lives in the trenches of the war that often is employment law–he/she may well be a little shell-shocked.  So if you are thinking “woohoo, I just landed some free legal advice that will fix all my problems!”, think again.  This is commentary, people, a sketchy overview of some current legal issue with a dose of humor, but commentary nonetheless; as if Dennis Miller were a lawyer…and still mildly amusing.  No legal advice here; you would have to pay real US currency for that (unless you are my mom, and even then there are limits).  But feel free to contact us with your questions and comments—who knows, we might even answer you.  And if you want to spread this stuff around, feel free to do so, but please keep it in its present form (‘cause you can’t mess with this kind of poetry).  Big news: Copyright 2015.  All rights reserved; yep, all of them.

If you have any questions about this article, contact the writer directly, assuming he or she was brave enough to attach their name to it.  If you have any questions regarding this blog or your life in general, contact Kelly O. Scott, Esq., commander in chief of this blog and Head Honcho (official legal title) of ECJ’s Employment Law Department, at (310) 281-6348.