O.C. Apparel Maker Faces Labor Violations Charges

Calling it one of the most serious and unusual labor violations in the garment industry, state officials have found that a big Santa Ana apparel maker required many of its minimum-wage workers to essentially pay to work there.

Jose Millan, the state’s deputy labor commissioner, said California and federal investigators are preparing to fine Clothes Connection “several hundred thousand dollars” for overtime wage violations and for charging workers more than $100 every month for work tools.

With few exceptions, state law requires employers to provide without charge tools and supplies needed for workers to do their jobs, but Clothes Connection has been requiring 300 to 500 of its sewers to pay for bobbins, needles and scissors, according to Millan and the state Department of Industrial Relations report.

“It’s one of the most egregious violations we’ve come across,” said Millan, whose investigators inspected Clothes Connection on April 20, along with federal officials.

Cynthia A. Woodruff, an attorney for Clothes Connection, which employs about 1,400 people, acknowledged this week that the company has charged workers for tools. But the Beverly Hills lawyer said the practice was limited to some workers in the sewing department and that it was begun about a year ago by management to combat theft in the workplace. “They had an enormous theft problem,” Woodruff said.

Woodruff also disputed the allegations of overtime violations, saying: “Overtime was paid for all hours worked. It’s a matter of what dollar rate was used for calculating overtime.”

Woodruff added that the company is conducting an audit covering the last three years and is cooperating with state and federal officials. She complained that state officials were releasing information about an ongoing investigation.

The state’s inspection report, which was obtained through the state’s Public Records Act, states that workers in the sewing department paid cash for seven items, including aluminum bobbins, sewing needles, folders and bobbin case. In all, these items cost $126.75 plus tax, which Millan said individual workers had to buy about every month.

“When you’re making $4.25 an hour, that’s a lot of money,” Millan said, adding that in about 2,000 garment-shop inspections over the last three years, only one other contractor has been cited for making workers pay for work supplies.

Millan also said employees at Clothes Connection regularly worked overtime. But for putting in those extra hours, Millan said, workers were paid a “bonus” that in many cases amounted to less than the required overtime rate.

The inspection at Clothes Connection was conducted as part of a continuing joint program by state and federal officials to crack down on violations in the garment trade. Rarely, however, have contractors been assessed penalties in six-digit figures.

Clothes Connection, which has been operating in its two-story Dyer Road building since late 1993, is a contractor to California Connection, a sister company in Los Angeles that makes women’s clothing for discount retailers and others.

Earlier this year, Clothes Connection was hit with $13,000 in fines by Cal/OSHA, which alleged, among other things, that the company exposed workers to blood-borne pathogens transmitted by workers sharing tagging guns, which attach a plastic tag commonly found on garments. Clothes Connection has contested the Cal/OSHA citations. The company, whose work force is mostly Latino, is also being investigated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Woodruff, Clothes Connection’s lawyer, said that the company has recently hired a new human resources director and has brought in consultants and experts to assess the workplace to ensure that the company is in compliance with regulations.

“They have gone to enormous lengths,” Woodruff said.

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Clothes Connection at a Glance

* Founded: 1989

* Headquarters: Santa Ana

* President: Sharon Stephen

* Employees: 1,400

* Business: Garment manufacturer

* Previous fines: $13,000 in March for 17 safety violations

Source: Clothes Connection; Times reports

Researched by JANICE L. JONES / Los Angeles Times