Alexander Wang Lawsuit Escalates As Second Plaintiff Adds Name (PHOTOS)

In the wake of allegations that Alexander Wang is running a sweatshop-like factory at his New York office, a second employee has come forward to sue the fashion designer for unsafe working conditions, the New York Post reports.

Flor Duante, 48, added her name to the $50 million civil action suit, which was filed in Queens Supreme Court. Duante, who claims she was forced to work 90 hours a week in Wang's factory, says that both she and the initial plaintiff, Wenyu Lu, were fired after filing for worker's comp due to work-sustained injuries.

Wang -- who just recently put on a high profile New York Fashion Week show -- has risen to fashion fame with his line of laid-back, casual sportswear. In an earlier statement, his company denied the initial allegations, saying: "The company takes its obligations to comply with the law very seriously, including the relevant wage and hour regulations, the payment of overtime to eligible employees and having a safe working environment for all of our employees. We will vehemently defend any allegations to the contrary.”

Whether you believe Wang or not, it's probably not a good sign when other plaintiffs start jumping aboard.

See Alexander Wang's Fall 2012 show:

Comments

[nine fourteen]

01:12 PM on 03/13/2012

Alexander Wang does not run a sweatshop. period. He has an in-house sample room in his studio that makes runway and sales samples ONLY, which are not even sold. Practically EVERY single highend designer in NY has an in-house sample room for the same purpose. Do they work extremely long hours leading up to a runway show? Absolutely. So do ALL salaried design team employees before a runway show, who aren't even paid overtime. But to imply that these are throwback "sweatshops" is slanderous and completely misleading. Notice when the story was first reported, 30 employees were supposedly filing a class-action suit. Now it comes out only 1 other employee has joined suit, so clearly there was no class-action suit to begin with, only one plaintiff with an aggressive lawyer trying to blow the situation out of proportion.

For years people have criticized wang for producing his clothes overseas. Yet those same people suddenly think that he's been producing them in chinatown this entire time? It doesn't even make sense.

I've seen disguisting sample rooms in the garment district, but what wang runs is anything but. Go online and look at images of his studio or watch the documentaries on him which even show his sample room. His entire studio is a classy, first-rate operation. The sample room is huge, spacious, and open-plan. If you really think his sewers have been working in a sweatshop this entire time, then all of his employees have.

[dblueII]

01:48 PM on 03/13/2012

You have no idea what happens behind the scenes. You clearly have a stake in this, and you are clearly an apologist. Wang very may well be doing things that everyone does, but that does not make it right, if he needs to be the example, than so be it.

[GibbsSlap]

03:17 PM on 03/13/2012

Which begs the question, does he fire people who are injured on the job and who file workers comp. claims? That is the question at hand.

[Max Shaw]

12:40 PM on 03/13/2012

like a Freaky Friday type thing...

#isitracist?

[woody7]

09:49 AM on 03/13/2012

When in college years ago we went to the Garment district in LA for a business class, I was appalled, they are all sweat shops. When it comes to fashion, my opinion is that people bury their heads and don't want to know who/ how their cloths are made.

[Robert Lovelace]

04:07 AM on 03/13/2012

It said Wang.
hehehehe

[Christopher Koulouris]

11:31 PM on 03/12/2012

Now the Alexander Wang lawsuit is up to $450M, as another employee steps up and joins the lawsuit, while 30 others also come out of the woodwork. The question remains; why did they deal with terrible conditions for so long? Why choose now to come forward? Had the two employees not been "worked to the brink of exhaustion", would they still be working for Wang today?

http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2012/03/alexander-wang-a-450m-lawsuit-in-the-making-second-employee-steps-up/

[quindy]

09:50 AM on 03/13/2012

You should read about the sweat shops in New York. I used to work across the street from one. You recognize them by windows you cannot see through and steam coming out of some make shift opening. The workers are mostly Chinese who come with huge debts into US and are literal slaves to their debtors. They have no choice. If this is the situation of the plaintiffs I don't know, and hope it is not, but sweat shops are alive and well here in the city.

[dblueII]

01:49 PM on 03/13/2012

Open a history book.

[Richcrafter]

11:11 PM on 03/12/2012

Somehow I believe this.