http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050913/ts_nm/retail_walmart_lawsuit_dc
I wonder how much of "Wal-Mart's potential liability [...] in the hundreds of millions of dollars" will go to the abused workers, and how much will end up in the pockets of International Labor Rights Fund attorneys.
Who knows but it would be zero if nothing was done. America's Chinese outlet store, what a wonderful thing for America!
Critics, however, say that low-price obsession has pressured store managers to overwork nonunion employees and the retailer has been hit with dozens of lawsuits claiming violations of wage-and-hour laws.
The company has also been the target of discrimination lawsuits. Last year, a judge said a lawsuit that charges the company discriminated against women in pay, promotions and training could proceed as a class action. That suit, the largest workplace bias lawsuit in U.S. history, covers as many as 1.6 million current and former female U.S. employees.
The mounting litigation has taken a toll on Wal-Mart's reputation and the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company has responded with a national advertising campaign aimed at repairing the image of its 5,100-store empire.
According to Tuesday's complaint, Wal-Mart breached its own agreement with foreign suppliers in its failure to monitor factory working conditions.
"Investigation after investigation of Wal-Mart's operations and suppliers reveal that Wal-Mart is an unrepentant and recidivist violator of human rights," the lawsuit said.
The plaintiffs allege Wal-Mart's "vast economic power" allows it to impose price and time requirements on supplier factories that result in sweatshop conditions.
The retailer "knew or reasonably should have known that its suppliers would violate" worker's rights, but continues to do business with those factories, the lawsuit said.
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