American Apparel to Can 1,500 Illegal Workers

By: Dana Chivvis
Topics: Employment

(CBS / Christine Lagorio)

California clothing manufacturer American Apparel will lay off 1,500 workers from its downtown Los Angeles factory because the employees are not legally authorized to work in the United States, the Los Angeles Times reports.

A government inspection two months ago uncovered 1,600 illegal workers and another 200 who had problems with their work records, including, in some cases, faked social security numbers.

Peter Schey, a lawyer for American Apparel, told the Times that the company "is very disappointed and disheartened at having to terminate a very large number of workers who by and large have been reliable contributors to the success of the company."

American Apparel founder and Chief Executive Dov Charney wrote in a letter that he was upset that he would have to fire so many employees, a number that amounts to 10 percent of the company's workforce.

"It is my belief that immigrants bring prosperity to any economy," Charney wrote.

American Apparel is known for its support of immigration reform. Charney told employees that if they got their work status in order they would be given preference for open jobs at the company.

The factory shakedown comes after months of trouble at American Apparel. In May, the company settled a lawsuit with the actor Woody Allen over the unauthorized use of his image in advertisements, and on Wednesday the company agreed to pull an advertisement in Britain that was criticized for being too sexually explicit.

Read more at the LA Times.

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by RayneMadrid July 13, 2010 2:34 PM EDT: since the begaining of time this has been happening, why are you all acting so brand New? wake up! where on earth did you think all your produce came from? did you think the green giant and sprout really picked it all? then your an idiot! every thing you have ever put in your mouth with a couple of exceptions ... has been touched by an illegal immigrants! is that a shocker? they do the jobs that us Americans have become to lazy to do. u really think that your the one to be out in the hot blazing son picking all the produce and vegetables? why do you think they are so dark and Dirty? have you ever heard the expression dirty mexican? yeah well that because they work in the Dirt! in the fields,in the sweat shops in the kitchen , on your front lawn! most of you on here are Guilty of the same Crime! did you really think the man outside cutting your grass was legal? the bottom line is all the things that we enjoy here in california and most of the states come from the jobs that no american will want lowest on the totem pole. if they were legal dont you think that they would have aspired for better work? dont get me wrong, i am not a fan of them at all, but everyone of us somewhere in our family was illegal at one point and they got hired right . so stop being so angry.. if anything now there are jobs open for all the unemployed americans who are out of work!!lets see how many americans will go fill those positions lazy ***** . and i am just as lazy i dont want that job!; Reply to this comment


by pw08-2009 September 9, 2009 11:51 AM EDT: How long have companies known of the illegalities of hiring illegals? And yet, this company has only just canned these people? This is disgusting and I will try to never do business with this company.; Reply to this comment


by GTR5 September 7, 2009 1:17 PM EDT: This CEO and his management staff should be charged and sent to jail.; Reply to this comment


by babooph September 7, 2009 1:12 AM EDT: Go easy,only 1500 mistakes,I am sure all US citizens are given the same latitude in their lawbreaking FOR PROFIT.; Reply to this comment


by demarree1 September 6, 2009 7:00 PM EDT: I totally agree, it should be a lot of jail time for everyone involved in hiring illegals and I think the company should pay for deporting every illegal it employed, the taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for the deportation of these illegals. These jobs should go to Americans and at a decent wage. Maybe we could force these companies to pay for miles of border fencing!!!; Reply to this comment


by GTR5 September 5, 2009 6:17 PM EDT: This sorry CEO and his HR staff need some serious jail time for this. They knew they were hiring illegals to boost their profit so they need to be charged and jailed.; Reply to this comment


by mollydtt September 5, 2009 10:49 AM EDT: P.S.---my comment about immigrants was not about legal immigrants--just the criminals that are living here illegally. I promise you, if an American was living in Europe illegally, they would be deported. And if a person was in Mexico illegally, much worse.; Reply to this comment


by mollydtt September 5, 2009 10:46 AM EDT: "Immigrants bring prosperity to the economy"----that is a lie---illegal workers bring the wages and benefits down, down, down. Why bother to hire Americans for a few cents more when you can knowingly hire illegals who will work for less and make sure to keep quiet about their questionable employment.
Plus, just think of all those 1,500 fake social security numbers. Just think of all of the stress and horror that the people who actually legally were assigned those s s numbers will have to endure (can you say "identity theft"?; Reply to this comment


by cac1958 September 4, 2009 10:11 AM EDT: he is not living with them in his community, nor is he out of work competing with them. let's find out how per hour these workers are being paid. and what part of illegal does he not understand? they affect my neighborhood, my pay, and my job search.; Reply to this comment


by toldyouso29 September 4, 2009 12:19 AM EDT: NEWS FLASH: THIS FROM THE AMERICAN CONSUMER (THE LEGAL ONES)

Equal Purchasing power Opportunity Policy:

The American citizen and consumer has a policy of nondiscrimination in all aspects of its dealing with businesses. American citizens will actively maintain a goal of trying to obtain equal employment and respectful treatment of all individuals without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, veteran or military status, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, but will be mindful of the need for individuals to be citizens of this country in order to benefit and enjoy the privilege for working for any company on our soil.

The American consumers strives to ensure that all businesses enjoy equal patronage and consideration and an atmosphere free from unlawful discrimination, bias or consideration to persons who are not from our country and therefore are breaking the law by participating or partaking of any job or service or benefit of this country.

With this in mind, all companies who wilfully indicate they place American citizens on par with any other citizen of the world and yet expect American citizens to purchase their product and show such a disregard for the laws of this country will NO LONGER be patronized by those American citizens who understand that with citizenship comes benefits and reward and to disregard that is to disrespect not only the USA but the entire rationale for being a citizen in the first place.

TIME TO RUN AMERICAN APPAREL OUT OF THE US---LET IT START WITH A BOYCOTT, THEN, LET'S SEE WHERE IT ALL GOES.; Reply to this comment