THE federal court has approved the preliminary proposed settlements that resolve claims against 19 U.S.-based retailers in three related lawsuits.
U.S. District Court Judge Alex R. Munson said the court finds that the proposed settlements are sufficient, adequate and reasonable.
There is no evidence to indicate that the proposed settlements were negotiated in haste or in the absence of information, he said.
“In fact, the settlement negotiations began more than three years ago, and the proposed settlements were revised more than a dozen times before the settlement agreements were finalized and submitted to the court,” the judge said.
The settlement agreements were entered into in good faith, after careful arm’s-length negotiations between experienced lawyers on both sides and in several instances with the plaintiffs’ counsel and settling defendants’ president or high-level production personnel, Munson said.
The 19 settling retailer defendants are Brylane L.P., Cutter & Buck Inc., Donna Karan International Inc., The Dress Barn, Inc., The Gymboree Corp., J. Crew Group Inc., Jones Apparel Group Inc., Liz Claiborne Inc., The May Department Stores Co., Nordstrom Inc., Oshkosh B’Gosh Inc., Phillips-Van Heusen Corp., Polo Ralph Lauren Corp., Sears Roebuck & Co., Tommy Hilfiger U.S.A., Inc., Warnaco Group, Inc., Calvin Klein, Inc., Brooks Brothers, Inc. and Woolrich, Inc.
Munson ordered that all litigation of the settled claims against the settling defendants is stayed and enjoined pending a fairness hearing.
The fairness hearing, he said, will be conducted 28 days after the expiration of the 120-day period for filing requests for exclusion and objections to the settlements.
In agreeing to settle the lawsuits, the settling retailers said “they were never have, nor do they now, engage in, support or condone unfair labor practices.”
The settling defendants deny liability for any of the claims set forth in the complaint against them.
They said they have agreed to settle the actions in order to avoid the substantial diversion of financial and human resources inherent in the litigation process, irrespective of the outcome which they believe, in this case, would be favorable to them.
Ten current and former garment workers sued The Gap and other retailers for alleged violation of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, certain international laws and other related federal and CNMI laws.
In the second lawsuit, two garment workers sued Brylane LP, Donna Karan, Liz Claiborne, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Phillips-Van Heusen.
In the third lawsuit, a garment worker sued The Dress Barn, Inc.
The plaintiffs in the Brylane and Dress Barn lawsuits alleged, among other things, that U.S.-based retailers “were aware of and controlled the allegedly illegal and inhumane working and living conditions imposed on plaintiffs and class members in garment factories in the CNMI by the contractors who manufacture garments for the defendant retailer/s.”
The court consolidated the three cases for purposes of partial settlement.
In 1999, initial settlement discussions began with the plaintiffs and settling defendants.
All of the settlement agreements contain substantially the same terms, except for the amounts that the settling defendants agreed to contribute to the settlement.
The plaintiffs then requested for a court order granting preliminary approval of the settlements.
The Dress Barn and J. Crew both filed a memorandum in support of the plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary approval of settlements. Tommy Hilfiger, Nordstrom, The Gymboree, Cutter & Buck joined the J. Crew’s memorandum.
