1,600 American Apparel employees not authorized to work in the US

[la miss]

American Apparel Employees Found to Lack Work Authorization
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124645046801579421.html
By DAVID J. REYNOLDS

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement believes that about one-third of American Apparel Inc.'s Los Angeles work force isn't eligible to work in the country.

ICE said 1,600 employees appear not to be authorized to work in the U.S., American Apparel disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late Tuesday. Those employees appear to have obtained employment by providing documentation which ICE believes to be suspect and not valid, American Apparel said.

ICE wasn't able to verify the employment eligibility of a further 200 employees because of discrepancies in these employees' records, the company said.

The company said ICE representatives conducted an inspection in January to check the company's compliance with immigration law.

American Apparel, which is based in Los Angeles, said that if the employees aren't able to provide proper documentation, they will be forced to leave the company. It said losing the affected employees wouldn't have a material effect on its business. The company said it intends to continue to cooperate with regulators.

ICE's notification provided no indication that the company knowingly or intentionally hired unauthorized aliens and no criminal charges have been filed against the company or any current employees, according to the company's filing.

American Apparel Chief Executive Dov Charney has been an advocate for immigration reform and boasts that his trendy t-shirts and other items are made "sweatshop-free."

"It is the company's hope -- and my personal hope as an immigrant myself -- that these employees are able to confirm their work authorization so that they may continue to work at American Apparel," Mr. Charney said in a prepared statement.

American Apparel in May agreed to pay $5 million to filmmaker Woody Allen to end a lawsuit accusing the retailer of unauthorized use of the director's image in an ad campaign.

In danger of default earlier in the year, the company secured $80 million in capital from private-equity firm Lion Capital LLP.

Write to David J. Reynolds at david.reynolds@dowjones.com

[Sternchen]

Uh oh!

[Loganz]

Hmm...interesting and thanks for posting. I didn't know about the Woody Allen suit either.

I like their tees and hope that they were not complicit in any illegal hiring practices - and I hope they paid ALL their employees wages suitable for working/living in LA!

[Jahpson]

very careless American Apparel.

really sucks, I am a huge fan of their clothing.

[HauteMama]

I tend to believe that with that many employees not authorized to work here, it was no accident.

[canada's]

^^^
it definitely was no accident.

they already had to let go a gob of immigrants a couple of years ago. they settled and DC awarded each 30K in stock options.

<3 how DC compares himself to the immigrants he employs. it's apples to oranges.

[Megs]

Of course it is not an accident, look at those numbers.

[twin53]

so what else is new?

[Vinyl]

Does anyone just find this hilarious? I know AA prides themselves on their stuff being made in the U.S. & yet their employees aren't authorized to work here.

[macska]

I'm not surprised ... scandal seems to follow Dov Charney, or rather, he seems to seek out scandal

[ayla]

Egads.. so were they even being paid a 'living wage' ?

[Loganz]

Originally Posted by Vinyl

Does anyone just find this hilarious? I know AA prides themselves on their stuff being made in the U.S. & yet their employees aren't authorized to work here.

Yes - I find this hilarious too.

[LV-PRADAfanatic]

let see how this is going DOWN....

[leothelnss]

Funny how they pride themselves on supporting the american economy by keeping everything stateside. I wonder how much these workers were making...

[ohgirlll]

Yikes 1,600!