A judge has cleared the way for possibly thousands of people to be paid for work performed while they were students at a [for profit vocational schools] ….Students [were required to] clean floors, restocked products and washed towels … tasks that weren’t directly related to their education at the Douglas J Aveda Institute, U.S. District Judge Judith Levy said Monday. She said those students can be considered employees under federal law. The amount of money they might receive hasn’t been determined. “They’re entitled to be compensated,” John Philo, an attorney for former students, said Wednesday. “The next step will be class certification and showing this is happening through all the locations. It could be as high as 5,000 to 6,000 students.” Full story