By SHAN LI, LA Times
American Apparel Inc. has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a civil suit over a worker’s death.
American Apparel agreed to pay $1 million to settle a civil lawsuit over a worker’s death in 2011 after an accident involving a knitting machine. Above, packages of American Apparel garments. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
The employee, Tuan Phan, died at age 49 in 2011 following an accident with a knitting machine at an American Apparel facility in Garden Grove.
The Los Angeles retailer failed to disconnect and lock the machine, which was undergoing maintenance at the time, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office, which prosecuted the case. As a result, the machine restarted when Phan went into the knitting machine cage; it subsequently “mangled and killed” Phan, the district attorney’s office said.
“American Apparel failed to properly train its employees regarding safety procedures and failed to maintain a safe and healthy work environment,” the office said.
American Apparel said it does not believe any safety laws were violated, but it settled with the district attorney’s office to avoid the costs of protracted litigation.
“In August 2011, an American Apparel knitting machine operator died in a tragic industrial accident,” the company said Tuesday. “American Apparel has been and continues to be absolutely committed to providing its employees with a safe work place and fair wages in a sweat-shop free environment.”
As part of the settlement, the retailer is now under an injunction that requires following workplace safety laws, providing employee safety training and accepting an annual audit of its facilities by the California Department of Industrial Relations Division of Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
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