21240: Esser: Cintas fighting Haiti sweatshop allegations in court (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

Club Haiti
http://www.telepark.de/clubhaiti/start.html

April 11, 2004

Cintas fighting Haiti sweatshop allegations in court 

Just as U.S. investors are trying to step up their influence over
corporate dealings in the wake of recent scandals, a lawsuit is
raising concerns that they could face litigation when they voice
ideas that companies don't like. The case, which some investor
advocates say is the first of its kind, involves a lawsuit filed by
Cintas Corp., the world's largest public uniform company servicing
more than 500.000 business customers in North America, against
Timothy Smith, senior vice present at the investment firm Walden
Asset Management. Cintas alleges he made defamatory remarks at its
October 2003 annual meeting linking the company to a "sweatshop"
factory in Haiti owned by Haitian American Apparel Co. S.A.
(HAACOSA). Cintas, founded by Richard T. Farmer, is asking
for damages of at least $75,000, plus unspecified punitive damages.
It also wants Walden barred from repeating his sweatshop comparisons,
at least when talking about Cintas. Employees at HAACOSA claim that
wages are so low they have to borrow money to feed their families.
Despite a heat- and dust-filled plant, the workers say, they don't
receive clean drinking water or dust masks. Workers borrow money from
moneylenders or “loan-sharks” at high interest rates of over 25%.
Loan-sharking is alleged to be widespread in Haitian factories with
supervisors and managers often lending money and taking money
directly out of workers’ paychecks to pay back the loans. In the end,
workers are continually in debt to survive and are bound to their
employers by their need to pay back loans and maintain access to
future loans. HAACOSA "is not a supplier we use,'' said Cintas
spokesman Wade Gates. He declined to reveal the name of Cintas'
suppliers in Haiti when asked by the Cincinnati Enquirer. [Source: AP
/ Oakland Tribune / The Enquirer]
.