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You are here: Home / Politics / An Unexamined Scandal / One Reason It’s Hard to Write About the Bangladesh Factory Disaster

One Reason It’s Hard to Write About the Bangladesh Factory Disaster

by Anne Laurie|  May 1, 201310:58 pm| 48 Comments

This post is in: An Unexamined Scandal, Domestic Politics, Decline and Fall

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Via commentor Mai Naem, current U.S. treatment of our most vulnerable workforce isn’t exactly an exemplar:

DAVENPORT, Iowa — A jury on Wednesday awarded a total of $240 million to 32 mentally disabled turkey processing plant workers in Iowa for what an expert witness described as years of “virtual enslavement” by the Texas company that oversaw their care, work and lodging…

During the weeklong trial that ended Wednesday, officials testified about the squalid conditions they found during a 2009 inspection of the bunkhouse where the men were housed. The building, which was in a rural area several miles from the West Liberty Foods turkey processing plant where they worked, was falling apart, infested with rodents and full of fire hazards.

Social workers spoke of the physical and verbal abuse the men said they had been subjected to by the Henry’s supervisors who oversaw their work and care. They said they had been forced to work through illness and injuries, denied bathroom breaks, locked in their rooms, kicked in the groin and, in one case, handcuffed to a bed…

“If these men had not been virtually enslaved, they could have enjoyed productive lives with the support of community,” she said. “It was only because they were disabled.”

The jury awarded $5.5 million apiece in compensatory damages for their pain and suffering and $2 million apiece to punish the company for knowingly violating the law.

The defunct company isn’t expected to be able to pay anywhere near the full amount of damages. The EEOC will work with the U.S. Department of Justice to examine company assets that could be seized to pay toward the judgment, including more than 1,000 acres of land in Texas worth up to $4 million, Canino said…

Henry’s began employing mentally disabled men in the 1960s and 1970s who had been released from Texas mental institutions. Hundreds of them were sent to labor camps in Iowa and elsewhere in the coming decades, where they were supplied on contract as workers to local employers. Company officials argued that the arrangement was a benefit to the men, and that they were once praised for giving them employment opportunities…

When Iowa’s Steve King and Texas’ Ted Cruz run as the Tea Party favorites in 2016, I’m sure they can use this sad tale as an example of the Big Gubmint Nanny State punishing humble job creators who just want to make the most of a untapped resource pool…

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Reader Interactions

48Comments

  1. 1.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    May 1, 2013 at 11:02 pm

    Ugh. How sickening. I’m glad a jury of their peers at least was able to make a statement with the judgements.

  2. 2.

    PeakVT

    May 1, 2013 at 11:10 pm

    I can’t wait for some spoiled glibertard to tell me how those poor people “chose” those working conditions.

  3. 3.

    trollhattan

    May 1, 2013 at 11:13 pm

    “The defunct company…”

    “Corporations are people, my friend.”

    Uh, Willard, until they are we appear to have no recourse, no protection from them.

  4. 4.

    S. cerevisiae

    May 1, 2013 at 11:15 pm

    And the race to the bottom continues…

  5. 5.

    satby

    May 1, 2013 at 11:17 pm

    As somebody said (which I could remember who so I could cite): “I’ll believe corporations are people when one is tried and convicted of murder”

  6. 6.

    ? Martin

    May 1, 2013 at 11:17 pm

    Nice to see the GOP acknowledge Cleeks Law, expressed almost verbatim:

    “In the end, it didn’t pass because we’re so politicized. There were some on my side who did not want to be seen helping the president do something he wanted to get done, just because the president wanted to do it,” Toomey said.

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    May 1, 2013 at 11:18 pm

    Commented about this on the thread where mai naem posted about it before.

    #1 – #2

    Though how this revelation today makes (or has made) it hard to write about what happened in Bangladesh eludes me.

  8. 8.

    ? Martin

    May 1, 2013 at 11:20 pm

    @satby: A good start would be when shareholders can be held accountable for the company they own. Wouldn’t that change how the wealth industry worked?

  9. 9.

    Lurking Canadian

    May 1, 2013 at 11:24 pm

    @PeakVT: Yglesias is already hard at work, “It is appropriate for mentally challenged Texans to place a higher value on wages than safety…”

  10. 10.

    NotMax

    May 1, 2013 at 11:26 pm

    @? Martin

    Shareholder liability insurance would be a whole new booming cash funnel that would overflow Scrooge McDuck’s vault.

    “Damn you, Granny, for having bought those 2 shares of XYZ Corp. 60 years ago!”

  11. 11.

    Roger Moore

    May 1, 2013 at 11:28 pm

    @satby:

    As somebody said (which I could remember who so I could cite): “I’ll believe corporations are people when one is tried and convicted of murder”

    You can get a bumper sticker that says “I’ll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one“. That’s the closest I’ve heard.

  12. 12.

    Roger Moore

    May 1, 2013 at 11:31 pm

    @? Martin:

    A good start would be when shareholders can be held accountable for the company they own.

    That would basically mean the end of the corporation. The whole point of a corporation is that it separates the owners from the liabilities of the organization. Limited liability is the only thing that makes it practical for ordinary people to own shares in major enterprises.

  13. 13.

    Face

    May 1, 2013 at 11:34 pm

    Overturned on appeal in 4 months, workers dont see a dime. Just you watch.

  14. 14.

    Mike in NC

    May 1, 2013 at 11:35 pm

    You don’t understand that Republicans think that Bengladesh is the role model we should follow.

  15. 15.

    Chris

    May 1, 2013 at 11:36 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    Well, not quite.

    They’re Muslims.

    Doncha know.

  16. 16.

    Suffern ACE

    May 1, 2013 at 11:37 pm

    Ah. Yet more proof that we need tort reform badly so that even these symbolic victories can be thwarted in the future. Yay. These people get nothing!

  17. 17.

    Roger Moore

    May 1, 2013 at 11:42 pm

    @Suffern ACE:
    It’s very simple. We shouldn’t have government regulations because these things are better handled by having the injured parties sue the people who harmed them. But we also need tort reform so that big business doesn’t have to worry about frivolous lawsuits. No contradiction there, no siree Bob.

  18. 18.

    johnny aquitard

    May 1, 2013 at 11:43 pm

    Now we know why conservatives pushed to empty out the mental hospitals. Cut the safety net, cut gub’mint, cut tax rates for the wealthiest, and simultaneously provide a class of serfs for industry to exploit.

  19. 19.

    trollhattan

    May 1, 2013 at 11:46 pm

    Were they halal turkeys? That would get Malkin on their case.

  20. 20.

    Redshirt

    May 1, 2013 at 11:50 pm

    Obviously, God wanted these people to be working in the turkey factory and treated poorly. Because they’d be rich if not.

  21. 21.

    Rekster

    May 1, 2013 at 11:50 pm

    Good thing Texas had Tort Reform so the “job creators” won’t be hampered by these “frivolous” lawsuits! Motherfuckers!

  22. 22.

    Lurking Canadian

    May 1, 2013 at 11:51 pm

    @Roger Moore: Limited liability is supposed to be about financial exposure, I think. You can’t lose more than you invest. Company goes bankrupt, your shares are worthless, but the creditors can’t come for your house. Doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t be legally liable for malfeasance.

    But anyway, I think we should take this “corporations are people” thing literally. Corporation broke the law, corporation (not management, although I’m ok with sending them up the river too) goes to jail. Can’t do business, at all, of any kind, until sentence has been served. Just like you and I wouldn’t be drawing our salaries while in the joint.

    Well, OK. I will let the corporation make license plates for 10 cents/hour.

  23. 23.

    ? Martin

    May 1, 2013 at 11:58 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    The whole point of a corporation is that it separates the owners from the liabilities of the organization. Limited liability is the only thing that makes it practical for ordinary people to own shares in major enterprises.

    Yeah, how’s that working out for us?

    Maybe it should be a bit less limited. Besides, granny doesn’t own any fucking stock. 90% of it is owned by the top 5%.

  24. 24.

    ? Martin

    May 2, 2013 at 12:00 am

    @Lurking Canadian:

    Corporation broke the law, corporation (not management, although I’m ok with sending them up the river too) goes to jail. Can’t

    They can have their charter revoked. It does happen with some frequency with smaller corporations, but never with larger ones.

  25. 25.

    Tonal Crow

    May 2, 2013 at 12:13 am

    West Liberty Foods

    “Liberty for me, slavery for thee.” — Republican maxim #3

    Or: But when I kissed the GOP in 1984, little did I know I’d signed up to be a whore.

  26. 26.

    Mandalay

    May 2, 2013 at 12:13 am

    @Lurking Canadian:

    Limited liability is supposed to be about financial exposure, I think. You can’t lose more than you invest. Company goes bankrupt, your shares are worthless, but the creditors can’t come for your house. Doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t be legally liable for malfeasance.

    That is also my understanding. But a corporation also has limited liability, right? If so, is it also a limited liability company, or are the two mutually exclusive?

  27. 27.

    Petorado

    May 2, 2013 at 12:23 am

    The moral of the story is that true Republicans believe that life has no meaning after someone is born. Before birth — they’re all saints. After — they deserved what they got.

  28. 28.

    trollhattan

    May 2, 2013 at 12:24 am

    @Rekster:

    “Hot Coffee” made me angry, angry, angry with the recollection of how Dubya came into office with “needed tort reform” foremost in his agenda (Iraq still being just a wet dream) and went to the mat with it. Conversely they just had to tighten bankruptcy rules for individuals, because there was “too much abuse.”

    Who does government represent, again? Gah!

  29. 29.

    scav

    May 2, 2013 at 12:25 am

    I’ve also wondered about limited anonymity for certain cases and classes of investors. ,probably not down to the smallest investors, but certainly above a certain % of control and as part of certain criminal sentences. Increased oversight and care taken in where one invests might be a byproduct.

  30. 30.

    celticdragonchick

    May 2, 2013 at 12:25 am

    @Face:

    The company has already gone belly up, so it is pretty damned unlikely that they will ever see a penny no matter what.

  31. 31.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    May 2, 2013 at 12:26 am

    What about the mentally retarded Republicans in Congress, owned by corporations, forced to do the bidding of there wealthy paymasters? Who will speak up for them?

  32. 32.

    NotMax

    May 2, 2013 at 12:33 am

    @ ? Martin

    Besides, granny doesn’t own any fucking stock. 90% of it is owned by the top 5%.

    Citation on that claim, perhaps?

    Around 90% of all stock is held by the top 20%, not the top 5%.

    Census Bureau data (see table 1211 on this .pdf file, which shows over 50% of families as owning stock in all but the under 35 and over 75 age brackets).

    As to percentage of stock owned by income bracket, hasn’t fluctuated much this century. See table 6a here.

  33. 33.

    TriassicSands

    May 2, 2013 at 12:44 am

    Company officials argued that the arrangement was a benefit to the men, and that they were once praised for giving them employment opportunities…

    Ah, the old “Sweatshops are good” argument. You see, sweatshops are good, because otherwise these workers (aka slaves) would have no work at all. Sure, making meager wages isn’t great, but it’s so much better than being unemployed. And we all know that the only two options are exploiting people or leaving them to starve. Our heroes step in and through the goodness of their hearts they hire workers at starvation wages, subject them to unsafe working conditions, use and abuse them, all for their own good. You’ve really got to admire these paragons of benevolence.

  34. 34.

    ChrisNYC

    May 2, 2013 at 12:49 am

    This company appears to be private. Per the Des Moines Register, the “owners” — 2 people — don’t have the resources to pay the judgment. It sounds like the reason the company is defunct is because of regulatory action. (Yay! regulators) They got fined by the state ($1.2 million) and lost two previous suits brought by the Dept of Labor and the EEOC ($3 million total). The “bunkhouse” was shut down by the state in 2009. Sounds like they’ll at least be able to pay the $3 million.

  35. 35.

    NotMax

    May 2, 2013 at 12:56 am

    Apt then, apt now.

    The gulf between employers and the employed is constantly widening, and classes are rapidly forming, one comprising the very rich and powerful, while in another are found the toiling poor. As we view the achievements of aggregated capital, we discover the existence of trusts, combinations, and monopolies, while the citizen is struggling far in the rear or is trampled to death beneath an iron heel. Corporations, which should be the carefully-restrained creatures of the law and the servants of the people, are fast becoming the people’s masters.

       - Grover Cleveland

  36. 36.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 2, 2013 at 1:11 am

    Find the executives of the defunct company and strip them off all their assets, to include any social security payments due them, to pay off the judgement.

    Let those maggots suffer.

  37. 37.

    Recall

    May 2, 2013 at 1:36 am

    What they should be doing is pursuing criminal charges. Kidnapping, extortion and the like.

  38. 38.

    RaflW

    May 2, 2013 at 1:48 am

    @Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS): Ugh. How sickening. I’m glad a jury of their peers at least was able to make a statement with the judgements.

    Tort reform! Damn juries of takers and the librul trial lawyers who bamboozle them.
    /snark

  39. 39.

    jon

    May 2, 2013 at 2:31 am

    It’s too bad I hate the taste of Turkey, because my vow never to eat any just lacks strength. Still, never again in my home.

  40. 40.

    Steeplejack

    May 2, 2013 at 3:31 am

    @satby:

    It was either Bill Moyers or someone he quoted on his program.

  41. 41.

    debbie

    May 2, 2013 at 7:47 am

    i heard the very end of this story on the news last night — the part about kicking employees — but I didn’t hear where it took place and assumed it was some third world country. The fact that this took place in the United States is sickening.

  42. 42.

    Patricia Kayden

    May 2, 2013 at 7:51 am

    What a sad story. Makes you wonder how many people are living in slave conditions right here in the good old USA by the precious “job creators”.

  43. 43.

    ET

    May 2, 2013 at 9:10 am

    Anyone else not surprised this happened in Texas? While I obviously could have occurred in other states, the fact that it was in Texas just seems like a “what a f**king surprise” moment.

  44. 44.

    Hillary Rettig

    May 2, 2013 at 9:17 am

    Yet another reason to go vegan.

    The meat industries are horrific abuses not just of animals but labor. Human Rights Watch issued their first-ever report on an American industry on the systematic abuses in the meatpacking industry.

    And: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postville_Raid

  45. 45.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    May 2, 2013 at 9:36 am

    @ET: The men were from Texas. The plant was in Iowa.

  46. 46.

    mai naem

    May 2, 2013 at 10:24 am

    Hah, I don’t check BJ one night and Anne Laurie front pages a link from a comment of mine.

    I know there are statutes of limitations but jeezus I can’t believe they couldn’t have gotten somebody on criminal charges. And how could have this gone on for 30-40 years and nobody notices it and reports it? I just don’t believe it. There have got to have been deaths in the workers from lack of care. There have to got to have been deaths in the supervisors where you had multiple supervisors over the timespan. There have to be people making food for these people. Janitors cleaning the buildings. It just sounds too incredible.

  47. 47.

    Zapruder F. Mashtots, D.D.S. (Mumphrey, et al.)

    May 2, 2013 at 10:26 am

    Cole is right. Sooner or later, enough people are going to wake up and see what the “job creators” are doing to them that they’re going to start dragging these assholes out into the street and beating them to death. If the assholes had any sense at all, they’d want to do something to stave off that day, and really, all they have to do is treat people like they’re people, not like they’re expendable, interchangeable tools, things that you work until they wear out and then throw aside so you can plug another nameless, faceless one in to work that one to death, too.

    I’ve read that back in the 30’s, President Roosevelt was talking to some plutocrats who were pissed off over what he was doing, and he told them, in essence, “You can let me do what I need to do to keep you guys under control–after all, you made this mess–or we can let things go on the way they are now, and just wait for some kind of communist revolution, and they’ll flay you alive. Which do you want?”

    But these assholes don’t understand that the people who write and enforce the hated “burdensome regulations” are trying to help save these sociopaths from themselves. It’s like what President Obama said a few years ago to some of the bank thieves, that he was the only thing standing between them and the pitchforks.

    I’ve said for a while that the defining characteristic of conservatives is that they have the maturity and emotional makeup of 6 year olds. I don’t let my 6 year old (as of yesterday) eat nothing but candy every day, but I don’t do that because I want to be mean to her, although I know she sees it that way; I do it because I don’t want her to be sick. Nobody makes rich people pay taxes or treat their workers decently because we’re big, big meanies and we like making them sad, we do it because it’s better for everybody if we’re all fairly well off. These guys just don’t understand that, though. And I’m sure whoever ran that turkey business thinks the jury was only being mean to them because the jurors were envious of them and wanted to “punish their success”.

  48. 48.

    satby

    May 2, 2013 at 11:47 am

    @? Martin: yeah, I think the majority of small shareholders have no real say or power in the running of the company so holding them accountable would be silly and unfair. But holding major or premium class shareholders and the Boards of Directors accountable as well as corporate officers I’m totally down for.

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