U.S. Labor Officials Subpoena Forever 21 for Garment Factory Information
Forever 21 Inc. is in the hot seat with the U.S.Department of Labor.
After a raid of Los Angeles garment factories in August allegedlyfound a number of wage violations, labor officials requested a slew ofdocuments from Forever 21, a Los Angeles–based retailer that allegedly used oneof the raided factories.
According to court documents filed in U.S. District Court in LosAngeles on Oct. 25, Forever 21 provided only a portion of what was requestedand neglected to turn over information itemizing the apparel factories itemploys.
So the U.S. Department of Labor went to court to enforce an Augustsubpoena asking for information.
In a statement, Forever 21 said it follows federal wageguidelines. “Forever 21 shares the Department of Labor’s commitment to properwage payment under the Fair Labor Standards Act. To that end, Forever 21promptly responded to the department’s subpoena with information that resultedin a full resolution of the matter under investigation.
“Forever 21 also offered to meet with the department and issurprised and disappointed that the department declined to meet before filingthis action but looks forward to working with them to address any issues.”
The subpoena is the latest turn in a Wage and Hour Divisioninvestigation that started on Aug. 6, when investigators made a sweep of 10garment sewing factories at 830 S. Hill St. in downtown Los Angeles to inspecttheir records.
According to investigators, the factories were paying theirworkers for every garment sewed, also known as paying on a piece-ratebasis.
Investigators said garment employees, who worked on average 47.45hours a week, made $6.85 an hour, which is below the federal minimum wage of$7.25 an hour. In California, the minimum wage is $8 an hour.
The workers were not paid overtime, and none of the employersmaintained accurate time and payroll records. “The results of this sweepwere astonishing in both the breadth and the depth of violations discovered,”said Kimchi Bui, the district director of the Los Angeles district office ofthe Wage Hour Division.
One of those factories raided was CUI Sewing Inc., whichreportedly was a subcontractor for another Los Angeles apparel factory, Color Me Red Inc. Investigators said both factories weremaking clothes for Forever 21.
Under federal law, retailers and manufacturers are responsible forthe conduct of contractors, said Priscilla Garcia, a district director for theWage and Hour Division’s office in West Covina, Calif.
The division served Forever 21 a subpoena on Aug. 16 and demandedthat the retailer turn over specified documents by Sept. 5.
In the past five years, the Wage and HourDivision offices in Los Angeles, San Diego and West Covina have conducted morethan 1,500 investigations into violations of minimum wage, overtime andrecord-keeping provisions. According to the government, 93 percent of theinvestigations uncovered violations and the division found more than $11million in back wages owed to 11,000 workers.ordingto the government, 93 percent of the investigations uncovered violations andthe division found more than $11 million in back wages due to 11,000 workers.— Andrew Asch
