Company Uses 1 Abusive Contractor--Not 3

When the U.S. Labor Department issued a list of garment contractors that it recently cited for labor-law violations--and the manufacturers who used them--Melisa Varon was in shock.

Varon owns J&M; Varon, a women’s sweater manufacturer in Aliso Viejo. Her company was identified next to three contractors who were found guilty of abuses. (Naming manufacturers is part of the labor agency’s strategy to pressure those who provide work to take responsibility for abuses by their contractors.)

J&M; Varon does use one of the companies that was cited, Rise Knitting in Santa Ana. But Varon never had dealings with two listed in the report: Empress Sewing of Oakland and Quality Pressing of San Francisco.

Scott Sutherland, a Labor Department spokesman in Washington, admitted that the agency erred in connecting Varon’s company with those two contractors. He said he didn’t know how the error occurred but said the department has apologized to Varon.

Varon said the damage has already been done. She said that people have called and her company’s reputation has been hurt.

“It really just irks me,” Varon said. “They’ve got to be more responsible.”

Don Lee covers workplace issues for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7407 and at don.lee@latimes.com