CA-CHING

Condé Nast to Pay Ex-Interns $5.8M

After class-action lawsuit.

A federal judge granted preliminary approval on Monday for Condé Nast to pay a $5.85 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit brought on by thousands of former interns who accused the publishing house for underpaying them. An estimated 7,500 interns who worked at magazines, including The New Yorker, Vogue, and Vanity Fair, will receive payments from $700 to $1,900 for their time with the publisher. U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman called the settlement reasonable and said it exceeded 60 percent of estimated unpaid wages, according to the interns’ lawyers initial estimates. “Given defendant’s size and stature in the publishing world, I assume it could withstand greater judgment,” Pitman wrote. “This fact, by itself, however, does not render the proposed settlement unfair.” A fairness hearing for final approval of the settlement is slated for June 22, 2015.