Alexander Wang's $450 Million Sweatshop Lawsuit Dismissed
The case has been settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.
Alexander Wang has been freed from fashion purgatory with the end of the label's highly publicised court case of the past months. Earlier this year we reported the beginnings of this media shit storm when a $450 million dollar lawsuit was filed by two of the company's former employees. Wenyu Lu and Flor Duarte claimed that they were forced to work for 16-hour days in sweatshop-like conditions in the label's Chinatown workspace. The case gained momentum and press coverage as the two plaintiffs were swiftly supported by 30 of their co-workers. These claims were immediately denied by the label, but resulted in public outcry none-the-less, with an egging of the Soho store.
The case was dismissed when it was settled out of court this week for an undisclosed sum, WWD reports. Alexander Wang mustered a strong defence — the lawyers described the workspace as "modern, bright lit" with "high ceilings and large windows". There will be no appeals to this settlement as a request was granted to both parties to dismiss the case without prejudice (which in normal speak means 'case closed' and neither party can file any future lawsuits against the other).
"We are gratified that this matter has been dismissed, as the allegations were unfounded and completely false," a spokesperson on team Wang has said upon the closing of the case.
Lucy Jones
