American Apparel Inc said Wednesday the U.S. government has found that 1,800 of its employees are either illegally working in the U.S. or potentially illegal to work.
By Rebecca Waters
The disclosure came as a result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Of the 1,800 workers identified, 1,600 were deemed to be unauthorised to work in the U.S. A further 200 more had been found to have discrepancies in their employment records, the company said.
In an interview, American Apparel founder and Chief Executive Dov Charney declined to discuss the specifics of the inspection but said: "We've always been committed to following the law."
“We rigorously support immigration reform,” he added.
In a release, American Apparel said it would give the employees cited by the government a "reasonable" amount of time to verify their immigration status.
If they can't, "such employees will not be able to continue their employment at the company," it said.