<p>Some number of years ago I was working for a technology company in Manhattan. The company had a long practice of taking on unpaid summer interns. Candidates were sent to us through their schools as these were for credit internships. Our new president didn’t like the unpaid part and instituted changes. All the interns were brought into a meeting and told they would receive $10/hr plus their commuting expense plus $15 a day for lunch. And I know for a fact that this was done out a sense of decency and not on any legal advise. The in house counsel was the biggest abuser of the no pay intern policy and had 3 interns in his department doing go-fer duties as well as his personal chores. When the change was announced he didn’t want the expense charged to his department so he made up an excuse to fire all three interns. The president didn’t let that happen and had me find suitable slots for the them within the organization., which wasn’t hard hard to do because on his orders the legal dept was still charged or them. I will always admire that guy for his ethical behavior and his willingness to protect underlings from manager bullies. The in house lawyer was gone within a month.</p>