Unpaid Required University Placement At A Private Company, Then Things Escalated After I Complained About Workload. What Are My Options?

Location: New York

I was a university student in a university-run program that placed me with a private company in New York for a project. It was a required part of the program, so I didn't get to choose the company. I worked a few hundred hours over two semesters and was never paid. I estimated the amount at under $5,000 by multiplying my hours by the NY minimum wage, but I don't know if that's the right way to calculate it. I filed a wage complaint with the NY Department of Labor this year and it is still pending.

During the placement I emailed my program supervisor (copying a company employee) to complain about excessive hours and workload. I did not mention pay. After that I was talked over in meetings, got little feedback, and my work was credited to others. I told the program director a couple of times that my work was being set aside, even though notes were being taken on it. Later I saw that the work I had been doing was handed to newer cohorts, and they continued it.

Things then escalated. I sent the university a lot of emails asking for help. At one point police were sent to do a welfare check on me. Later, a program staff member told my family they had been instructed to stop communicating with me. This affected my mental health. I was disheartened, lost motivation, and stepped away from career paths I had been planning to pursue because of it. I'm still dealing with it, and I haven't had a mental health assessment yet.

I have evidence that a company representative said the students' work had real business implications for the company and that the company wasn't paying us. The same person also described it as work done for a grade. As far as I can tell, the program has sent several cohorts of students to the same company over the years, doing what looks like similar work.

At the time I asked a lot of people where I could take this and nobody could point me anywhere, so I let it go. It hasn't left my mind since.

My questions: 1. Under NY law, does the "for a grade" framing defeat an unpaid-intern wage claim, or does the company's benefit from the work matter more? 2. Can a complaint about hours and workload that never mentions pay be protected under NY Labor Law §215? 3. Can emotional distress be part of a wage or retaliation claim like this, and would it need a clinician's assessment to support it? 4. Is minimum wage times hours the right measure of unpaid wages here, or does NY law add anything on top? 5. Does it matter for my claim that the company kept using and building on my work after I left?