In 2002 a class action lawsuit was brought by Al Meyerhoff on behalf of immigrant Saipan workers against some of America's biggest clothing retail stores. The lawsuit claimed a "pattern of long hours, low pay...in garment factories that produce more than $ 1 billion of clothing..." a year for stores in the US. 30,000 workers toiled in what Meyerhoff said was "indentured servitude". The out of court settlement was for $ 20 million, the companies did not have to admit wrongdoing but they agreed to change their ways. A fund was created to pay back wages and establish a monitoring agency for the plants in Saipan, which is a US commonwealth. The case was called Doe v. The Gap and involved 20 major US stores.
(Source: "Al Meyerhoff, 61, fought on behalf of sweatshop workers" by Valerie J. Nelson of the LA Times. Reprinted in The Record on December 24, 2008)
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