LeBron James Looking For Unpaid Interns? Law Firm Cracking Down

LeBron James is looking for college interns, with one apparent stipulation: You must be willing to work for free.

James is running ads for openings in his native home of Ohio, Miami, where he now plays, and New York, the center of most his business dealings. While the ad is quite detailed in its requirements (fluent in Spanish, journalism or marketing experience and strong knowledge of basketball and technology) it perhaps quite conveniently makes no mention of compensation.

 For Department of Labor officials, that could mean a foul, as government officials have been cracking down on the practice of unpaid internships for years and now clearly stipulate that an employer must not derive any “immediate advantage from the activities of an intern.”

For Justin Swartz, a partner at Outten & Golden, a New York law firm that only represents employees, including unpaid interns, in this case, it’s hard to conceive of any such scenario. Swartz told Marketwatch.com responsibilities such as “communicating and interacting with LeBron fans around the world” and maintaining hoops dossiers clearly suggest that James will be deriving some benefit from the works of his unpaid charges.

“If LeBron wants students to take their talents to South Beach, he should pay them for their work,” he said. Earnings for James topped $17.5 million in salary last season, and that is but a fraction of what he makes in endorsement and other business dealings.

Marketwatch also reported that an email sent to James’ representatives raising additional questions about the internship, including pay, was not returned.

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