Are interns employees?

Whether interns are employees subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act was decided in the affirmative by a federal district court in New York. Unpaid internships have proliferated in recent years. In this case the interns worked in the film industry. The inquiry as to whether an intern is an employee for purposes of the FLSA is a fact driven one, but employment status is defined very broadly to include anyome who the employer "suffers or permits to work."