HR disaster? Models take agencies to court over work conditions

A law suit is threatening to bring the modelling world undone, with claims models are treated like they are in a ‘battery farm’ by their employers – with drugs and eating disorders rife.

Eight of the biggest modelling agencies in the world are going to court next month to fight the case, which if successful it could see thousands of models compensated, cost the agencies in excess of $100million and change the way they do business forever, The Daily Mail reports.

The agencies - Wilhelmina Models, Wilhemina Models International, Elite, Click, MC2 Model and Talent Miami, MC2, Next and Major Model Management - represent the biggest in the modelling world.

Models have spoken out about the conditions they work in, with former model Rachel Blaise comparing the treatment of young models to a ‘battery farm’.