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Wednesday, September 14, 2005
About those low prices
Wal-Mart is being sued again:
US retail giant Wal-Mart has been hit with a lawsuit that claims it ignores sweatshop conditions at many of its suppliers' factories around the world.
...Each claims they were paid less than the minimum wage and not given overtime payments. Some say they were beaten.
"It's really too early for us to be able to say anything about this particular complaint," said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Beth Kath. "It involves a number of companies and manufacturers and we're just beginning our research to learn more."
Gee...I wonder if it ever occured to Wal-Mart to monitor its vendors in any way? Or is it more efficient to wait for the lawsuits?
2 Comments:
I am certainly no fan of WalMart. I never go in, and I oppose it anyway I can.
But, from a purely legal standpoint, what is the cause of action and the theory of these suits? Does a company that is following all the laws of its location (assume this for purposes of argument) have a duty to ensure that those it buys from follow all the laws of their locations? Where is the legal connection between WalMart and the employees of some third party supplier?
This stuff always makes good press, and can be embarrassing to a company (witness Kathy Lee and others), but what is the legal basis and theory?
By 
, at
1:20 PM
Here's an update:
The workers are suing as third-party beneficiaries to Wal-Mart contracts with garment factories. The complaint says the contracts require suppliers in the five countries to comply with the company’s labor standards and that the company’s failure to do so meant the employees worked in "sweatshop" conditions.
Wal-Mart has a code of conduct that its suppliers should follow "by providing wages and benefits, which are in compliance with the local and national laws of the jurisdictions in which the suppliers are doing business," the complaint says. It says the workers "were routinely paid below the minimum and overtime wages as required by the laws of the identified countries."
Wal-Mart has the power to control the working conditions in the suppliers’ factories and "was in fact a joint employer with the suppliers," the suit says.
