'Got fired from my internship so I sued the company': Intern's excellent revenge on shady company

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Mar 13, 2023 3:00 PM EDT

This intern wasn't afraid to burn bridges after his boss fired him out of nowhere! 

Internships can be truly grueling. Regardless of what industry you're in, as an intern, you can expect to be doing the jobs no one else wants to do, popping out to get coffee for the employees, and even working extra hours. You're supposed to gain career experience, and maybe even gain a job as a result. But in actuality, companies almost never end up hiring interns, and they often don't bother to pay them for their hard work. 

This intern took a stand after he claims he was "fired for no reason." He writes that he realized he was being duped by the organization, which basically ran on intern labor. So he got a lawyer involved, and it turns out he's not even the only intern who wants to sue the company!

Then, click here to read about one woman who waited months to get some petty revenge on the water department in her town. 

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    Font - r/pettyrevenge Posted by u/Zoma456 6 hours ago D Got fired from my internship so I sued the company and got money
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    Font - I (22 yo) male, sued my internship company because they fired me for no reason. It was a start up company. Things were fishy from the beginning, but it was my first internship so I was still naive then. I slowly realized that all the employees (4 lol), were all interns. The person who taught me the job was a fired intern too. Fast forward to a month after, and I get this email from the manager saying that he "feels" that I am not committed to his company. No warnings beforehand was so eve
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    Font - Anyway, after I saw the email, I replied and told him that this is not the case and he should give me another chance. He replied and said no. I replied again and lowkey begged him because he was basically screwing my study as an internship is a mandatory part of it. He didn't reply and ignored me. I asked to have a meeting with him and he ignored me.
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    Font - So here is when petty me took over. I wrote a long message calling him a dhead in professional words. I sent that message in the group chat with the other interns and luckily, a new intern had just joined the company and she saw it. Then he finally replied to me and was like "oh things sometimes don't work out and it happened to me bla bla bla".
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    Font - I didn't feel fulfilled yet, so I looked at the contract and saw that under termination, it said that a one month notice should be given before termination. He terminated me without the month notice. So then I consulted a lawyer and we filed a lawsuit against him. I didn't win, but I got a settlement and got some money of out it. I caused him nuance while I lived on and enjoyed my life and got a better internship. He probably had to pay for his lawyer and I also took time off of his work.
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    Font - tulip0523 6 hr. ago I hope you share that information with all previously fired interns and current ones, in case they need it. How sweet would it be to see him getting sued by the others too? Reply Share 903 Zoma456 OP - 6 hr. ago I actually did. That fired intern that taught me how to do the tasks was informed. My lawyer asked me to ask her for a testimony to make my case stronger. At first she was hesitant, but I asked her again and she did.
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    Font - Firefox_Alpha2 - 3 hr. ago Tell your school's intern office about his illegal acts, get him blacklisted.
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    Font - MonkeyPolice 6 hr. ago Can you contact the internship program? He should be prevented from receiving all this free labor Reply Share 416 Zoma456 OP .6 hr. ago College isn't responsible for such things because they don't find internships for us. We are supposed to find them ourselves
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    Font - Quaternions 4 hr. ago He should be prevented from receiving all this free labor Are there still companies that only offer free internships?? If you are a student, please never, never, never accept a free internship. If the company isn't willing to pay you for your time and work, then tell them to go fu off. There is NEVER an excuse to not pay people for work, I don't care if you are still a student or not.
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    Font - Proud_Fisherman_5233+1 · 3 hr. ago Last time I checked almost 50% of internships were still unpaid. I mean it's good in theory but if your only option is unpaid internship or no internship, well you gotta do what you gotta do.
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    Font - throwaway13630923 13 min. ago +1. Yep, I had a friend who took an unpaid internship for about 6-8 months with a smaller company, maybe 10 employees or less. Owners were introduced to him by a friend of a friend so he had an in. So he worked for all this time without receiving a single cent, while the owners hinted to him throughout that they were looking for a full-time employee. So as the internship concludes they send him a fing email (on New Years Eve nonetheless) telling him they won'
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    Font - johannthegoatman 4 min. ago I appreciate the sentiment, but a lot of times interns are literally a drain on the company, not actually accomplishing any meaningful work and taking time away from actual employees who have to babysit them. We've had interns at my company where we were basically just hands on teachers for them (software engineering). I never asked if they were paid or not, probably were because my boss is a G, but it's not as black and white as you're saying.
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    Font - AMAprivacy 2 hr. ago Bro, you're hearing one side of the story. Notice when he said he didn't win the lawsuit but got some money. The judge probably agreed he was just to be fired but he had to pay the 1 month notice period. Just words of advice for life, there are 3 sides to every story, side A, side B and the truth.
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    Font - Donald Trurnp +2.3 hr. ago Why do you consider a settlement with some money not a "win" from your lawsuit?
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    Font - pepperland24. 3 hr. ago Settlements generally aren't adjudicated and therefore there is no "winner" or "loser" in the case. The old boss basically said "I'll pay you X amount of dollars if we just drop this and never have the law determine who is wrong about this" and the ex- intern agreed. This way the ex- boss is free to do the same behavior with the other interns. A win for OP, certainly, but not a "win"
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    Font - Donald Trurnp +2.2 hr. ago If the settlement included a NDA, then OP is very much at risk of outright losing. If it didn't, then just telling the other "interns" about it would change the employer's ability to get away with it.
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    Font - SpikeRosered 2 hr. ago If your work was only offering a boot out the door and you got some money out of them that's a win. That's why a lot of companies are nervous about wrongful termination. The employee has nothing to lose to go after them for money.
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boss internship work stories toxic-workplace legal workplace Horrible Bosses interns
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