The government of Bangladesh, Wal-Mart, J.C.Penney and The Children’s Place have been sued by victims and families of victims of a garment factory collapse that killed more than 1,000 people two years ago. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, claims the retailers and the government were aware of the unsafe conditions, according to US media.
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.
