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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Chinatown Sweat Shop Loses High Court Appeal

(CN) - A clothing maker in New York's Chinatown cannot go to the Supreme Court with an appeal of a jury verdict that it forced 25 workers to work more than 85 hours a week for less than minimum wage and sometimes for no pay at all.

Liberty Apparel Co. delivered partially finished clothes to a factory owned by Lai Huen Yam, whose workers would sew the fabrics together and add buttons, labels, cuffs and hems.

Yam's employees said they spent 70 to 80 percent of their time on Liberty garments, though they worked for other subcontractors. Liberty paid Yam by the piece, not the hour, and Yam paid his workers in the same way.

"On average, each plaintiff worked more than 85 hours per week," according to the 2nd Circuit, which affirmed the ruling in August. "When they were paid for their work - which was not always - they were paid at a rate below the federal and state minimums, and they were never paid overtime."

The workers sued and were awarded more than $550,000 in damages after a 2.5-week trial.

As is its practice, the Supreme Court did not comment on why it rejected Liberty's petition for review.

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