Los Angeles Apparel shut after spike in virus cases
Public health department investigation finds more than 300 confirmed infections
In mid-March, as the coronavirus raged across New York, Washington state, California and New Jersey, and the crisis in personal protection equipment shortages grew, Dov Charney of Los Angeles Apparel was one of the first clothing retailers to step into the void.
In reopening his Los Angeles factory to produce face masks, Charney, the former chief executive of American Apparel who was ousted amid allegations of misuse of funds and knowingly allowing sexual harassment, was transformed from industry pariah to champion.
Los Angeles Apparel, his new company, was deemed an essential business. The federal government became a client, Charney said. The long road to redemption seemed, suddenly, much shorter.
But Friday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health ordered Charney’s manufacturing facility to close: An investigation found more than 300 confirmed infections among the garment workers, and four deaths. Three of the deaths were in June and one in July.
In a news release detailing the closure, the health department cited “flagrant violations of mandatory public health infection control orders” and failure “to cooperate with DPH’s investigation of a reported COVID-19 outbreak.”
This is one of the first forced closures of a factory in Los Angeles because of coronavirus-related outbreaks, according to Jan King, the regional health officer for south and west Los Angeles. Although the health department conducts numerous investigations, they are usually resolved through action with the companies involved.
“Business owners and operators have a corporate, moral and social responsibility to their employees and their families to provide a safe work environment that adheres to all of the health officer directives this responsibility is important, now more than ever, as we continue to fight this deadly virus,” Barbara Ferrer, the director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said in a statement about the closure, which contained a timeline of the investigation.
In a phone call, Charney called the announcement “media theatrics,” and said: “I don’t think that press release represents the point of view of the people I am working with at the department of health. Some of them have apologized to me. It’s not truthful.”
Los Angeles Apparel opened in 2016 and employs just under 2,000 workers in three buildings according to Charney. Since the coronavirus began, they have produced, Charney said, more than 10 million masks, about 80% of which have gone to government agencies.
Charney said that all employees had been wearing face coverings, and that machines were spaced 6 feet apart. He said that the equipment and the space were regularly disinfected, and that
the company had been regularly testing employees for the past five weeks.
On June 19, a nurse contacted the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health about a potential outbreak at Los Angeles Apparel, according to officials.
The health department opened an investigation, which included a request that the company send over a list of all employees a request the health department said was not met even after multiple appeals. On June 26, the health department conducted a site visit, and the next day the factory was closed.
According to King, the violations discovered included cardboard barriers between worker stations, and coronavirus guidance materials that had not been translated into Spanish (the first language of most of the employees). An official also found a lack of training on health protocols such that, when asked by a physician, the employee who was supposed to be screening fellow employees for symptoms could not list what they were even though they were posted on the wall behind the employee.
While some of the infractions were minor, King said, there was a sense the company was not taking seriously the documents the health department had sent that listed the changes that need to be made. As a result, the investigation team went from one person to around 10.
The factory reopened briefly July 9 before being forced to close again.
Charney disputed almost all of these facts. He said that it was the company itself that first alerted the health department to the situation; that the company had been making its best efforts to provide the employee list requested but that there were privacy issues involved; that the cardboard was in addition to social distancing regulations (and had been recommended by a consultant because the virus does not live long on cardboard).
He also said that it was the responsibility of the health department to translate their documents into Spanish not the responsibility of the company.