Martina McBride, her husband John McBride and their recording studio, Blackbird are facing a $1 million lawsuit over alleged mistreatment of their unpaid interns. Richard Hanson, a former employee, claims in the lawsuit claims that many unpaid interns working at the studio were taken advantage of, by assigning them personal errands, such as cleaning the bathrooms, and picking up groceries and takeout for them. They were also reported to have been “yelled at” when they failed to do these domestic tasks well. Hanson was the operations manager of Blackbird for close to 5 years, and also ran the unpaid internship program. He filed an official complaint against the company for having violated the Fair Labor Acts Standards. His statement claims that he was fired within one hour of informing the McBrides of the complaint, who have been sued for infringing the Tennessee Public Protection Act by firing Hanson on personal grounds.
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