Olsen Twins are being sued by interns in a class-action suit

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Aug 12, 2015

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen has recently had a class-action lawsuit filed against them by 40 past and present interns who claim the twin designers and moguls failed to compensate them for their work. Canadian fashion designer Shahista Lalani, a former design intern for the Olsens’ fashion brand, The Row, is leading the class-action lawsuit against Dualstar Entertainment Group, the multimillion-dollar business headed by Mary-Kate and Ashley.

 
“She was very demanding,” Lalani told Page Six. “I was doing the work of three interns. I was talking to her all day, all night. Emails at nighttime for the next day, like 10 p.m. at night.” Though she never worked directly with the Olsens, she said, “They’re really nice people. They were never mean to anyone. They’re business people.”
 
The lawsuit that alleges wage theft says that the interns should be paid minimum wage plus overtime for doing the same types of jobs as their paid colleagues without receiving academic or vocational credit. Lalani herself clocked in 50-hour unpaid workweeks for The Row.

A spokeswoman for Dualstar said Tuesday, “As an initial matter, Dualstar is an organization that is committed to treating all individuals fairly and in accordance with all applicable laws. 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.”