Breaking News. Alexander Wang Runs a Sweatshop?

Alexander Wang
Say it isn’t so! But apparently it is, according new a $50 million lawsuit that the young designer has been slapped with, according to the New York Post. Alexander Wang is being sued for heading up a Chinatown sweatshop where his workers are allegedly abused. Thirty workers claim they were forced to work 16 hours a day or longer — without overtime — in a suffocating, windowless, 200-square-foot room by the breakout designer, who earned a whopping $25 million in 2011. Wenyu Lu and dozens of co-workers charge that Wang, 28, and his brother, Dennis, violated numerous state labor laws in their operation at 386 Broadway.
Lu and the other workers have suffered injuries, illnesses, lost time from work and lost sleep, says their suit filed in Queens Supreme Court. Lu, 56, claims he was hospitalized for several days after he passed out at his workstation because he was forced to work 25 hours without a break and was warned that he would be fired if he didn’t follow orders. Among the orders Lu was given was to was to “knit and perfect” a pair of leather trousers in four hours — a job that normally takes 12 hours, Lu said. He was ultimately fired on Feb. 16 after complaining about the working conditions and applying for worker’s compensation, said Ming Hai, his lawyer. Wang, who hails from California but who’s parents are Chinese, opened a 4,000-square-foot flagship store in Chinatown last year and is planning to open another 15 stores by the end of this year, including one in China.The designer’s reps said they had no comment because they had not yet been served with the lawsuit. We’ll be updating details as this bizarre story unfolds. -Alia Rajput Article Source: New York Post Photo Source: openingceremony.us

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