Manhattan DA claims fashion designer ran 'sweatshop' in midtown studio

MANHATTAN (CN) — Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Wednesday charged a luxury fashion designer with stealing $54,000 in wages from nine employees in what Bragg called a “sweatshop” in the city’s Garment District.

Andrea Marshall, 44, faces counts of grand larceny in the second degree, scheme to defraud in the first degree, effect of failure to secure compensation and five counts of failure to pay wages. Her company, Salon 1884, is also charged over conduct prosecutors say took place between August 2023 and this month.

Bragg says Marshall’s seamstresses toiled during exploitative shifts lasting as long as 17 hours, sometimes working overnight, and for well more than 40 hours per week. In at least two instances, the DA says, employees clocked more than 100 hours in one week. The nine employees are owed the $54,000 for approximately 924 hours of unpaid labor, Bragg claims.

“She preyed on the significant power imbalance of her employees who relied on the promised wages for housing and basic living expenses, feared retaliation, and lacked the financial resources to pursue legal recourse,” Bragg said in a statement announcing the charges.

Marshall founded her company in 2021. It’s located on West 39th Street in the Garment District of Manhattan and sells garments that cost thousands of dollars, often through luxury retailers and online platforms like Neiman Marcus, Moda Operandi and Net-A-Porter.

In text messages made public Wednesday, employees asked Marshall for payment, one of them citing a need to send money to family abroad.

“Miss Andrea, please can you pay me half. I really need to send money to Ecuador for my children. I really need it, miss, please help me,” one employee writes.

Bragg’s office says Marshall falsely represented to employees that they’d be paid and “delayed payment through a series of shifting explanations and requirements.” Marshall also purportedly offered workers clothing in lieu of pay and didn’t even pay up when workers were awarded small claims judgments against her.

Marshall engaged in similar conduct, the office says, with independent contractors — modeling agencies, a pattern maker and a hair stylist — promising she’d pay but failing to do so despite collection efforts and legal demands.

Prosecutors also say Marshall failed to carry worker’s compensation insurance as required by law.

Attorneys Anna Estevao and Justine Harris represent Marshall.

“Andrea vehemently denies these unfounded accusations. She looks forward to her day in court and is confident the truth will prevail,” they said in a joint statement Wednesday.

Bragg asked anyone with information to call his Worker Protection Unit at (646) 712-0298.

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