'Black Swan' lawsuit 'meritless,' says Fox Searchlight

Fox Searchlight Pictures responded dismissively to the lawsuit brought by two unpaid interns who worked on Black Swan, claiming that the accusations are meritless because the plaintiffs never officially worked for them. Alex Footman and Eric Glatt had filed a lawsuit in Manhattan last week, claiming that Fox Searchlight had violated work laws with the not-uncommon industry practice of unpaid internships. According to their lawsuit, as reported in the New York Times, labor rules required that unpaid interns receive hands-on educational experience, not the menial tasks — such as fetching coffee and taking out the trash — that interns are routinely assigned. “The only thing I learned on this internship was to be more picky in choosing employment opportunities,” Footman, 24, told the Times. “Black Swan had more than $300 million in revenues. If they paid us, it wouldn’t make a big difference to them, but it would make a huge difference to us.”

Fox Searchlight didn’t address the specific workplace charges since their stance is essentially, “It has nothing to do with us.” In a statement, the studio said:

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