Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney and Children’s Place sued by victims of 2013 Bangladesh factory collapse

By Maria Halkias
FILE - In this April 29, 2013 file photo, the collapsed Rana Plaza garment factory building is seen from a building nearby as a crane prepares to lift the fallen ceiling in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh. A Bangladeshi garment industry leader on Saturday, April 18, 2015, guardedly welcomed Italian retailer Benetton's pledge of more than $1 million to victims of the factory collapse that killed over 1,100 people two years ago, saying it had come late but was appreciated. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)
FILE – In this April 29, 2013 file photo, the collapsed Rana Plaza garment factory building is seen from a building nearby as a crane prepares to lift the fallen ceiling in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh. A Bangladeshi garment industry leader on Saturday, April 18, 2015, guardedly welcomed Italian retailer Benetton’s pledge of more than $1 million to victims of the factory collapse that killed over 1,100 people two years ago, saying it had come late but was appreciated. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

DHAKA, April 28 (NsNewsWire) — Wal-Mart, J.C.Penney, The Children’s Place and the government of Bangladesh have been sued by victims and families of victims of a garment factory collapse that killed more than 1,000 people two years ago, reports dallasnews.com

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, claims the retailers and the government were aware of the unsafe conditions.

When the eight-story building collapsed on April 24, 2013, 1,129 people were killed and about 2,515 people were injured. Many of the people were women and children.

“Defendants knew, or with the exercise of reasonable diligence, should have known, that the Rana Plaza facility was not safe for human habitation,” said the lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The Bangladesh government breached its duty to its citizens by failing to properly inspect the building, failing to ensure compliance with local construction standards and failing to ensure the safety of factory workers, the lawsuit said.

Retail defendants breached their duty to workers in the building, the lawsuit claims, by failing to implement standards and oversight mechanisms designed to ensure the health and safety of workers who manufactured clothing for their stores.

The complaint said that retailers profit from the system of sourcing through subcontractors: “Although retailer defendants, and other Western buyers, contain strong language in their public policies against non-transparent subcontracting, factory owners report that many buyers turn a blind eye to the subcontracting practice.”

Other lawsuits have been filed around the world. The National Law Journal first was first to report the case on Friday.

The day before the collapse, cracks were found in the building and an engineer declared the building unsafe.

“Since it’s a pending legal matter, we’re going to decline the opportunity to comment,” said J.C. Penney spokeswoman Daphne Avila.

0512/2013
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