
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 18, 1995                   TAG: 9508180060
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A13   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BLOOMBERG BUSINESS NEWS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES                                 LENGTH: Medium

U.S. SUES OPERATORS OF LA SWEATSHOP

The U.S. Department of Labor said it filed suit against the operators of a Los Angeles-area sweatshop, seeking property liens to help repay immigrant workers who were said to be held captive for more than five years.

The agency said it filed the civil lawsuit to recover $11.6 million in wages and penalties for 70 workers from Thailand who were held in the makeshift factory in a Los Angeles suburb.

Federal and state authorities raided seven apartments in an El Monte, California, building nearly two weeks ago, finding undocumented workers who said they toiled behind locked doors for as long as 22 hours a day.

The Thai immigrants said they were paid less than a dollar an hour as they tried to pay back the thousands of dollars their captors charged to bring them to the United States.

This week, California officials subpoenaed one department store and asked other top retailers to assist investigators as they sought out details of the stores' dealings with the garment factory. Boxes of brand-name labels to be sewn into the garments were found on the premises.

Sears, Roebuck and Co.; Neiman Marcus Group Inc.; May Department Stores Co.; Victoria's Secret; Montgomery Ward Holding Corp.; and B.U.M. International Inc. were among the retailers who received requests for information. State officials subpoenaed Dayton-Hudson Corp.'s Mervyn's retail chain.

Los Angeles-based B.U.M. International said in a statement that it had not been charged with any wrongdoing, and has responded to the only telephone inquiry it received from Labor Department investigators.

A clothing maker or retailer contracting with an unregistered garment maker may be held jointly liable for any unpaid wages and penalties under California law, state officials said.

The Labor Department said most department stores contacted denied knowledge of the sweatshop. The agency also is asking retailers to assist investigators in the probe.

Federal prosecutors already have filed charges of harboring and transporting illegal aliens against the eight defendants associated with SK Fashions.

The lawsuit against the employers includes $5 million in unpaid wages, $5 million in liquidated damages and $1.6 million in penalties.

The suit seeks a lien against the operator's property, merchandise and equipment.

by CNB