Ex-Workers at Malaysia Supplier Sue Kimberly-Clark, Ansell Over Alleged Forced Labor

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KUALA LUMPUR – Former workers at Malaysian rubber glove maker Brightway Holdings filed a lawsuit in the United States against Kimberly-Clark Corp. and Ansell Ltd., accusing them of “knowingly profiting” from the alleged use of forced labor at the supplier, according to the complaint seen by Reuters.

The workers – all Bangladeshi citizens – say Kimberly-Clark and Ansell were aware of the alleged labor abuses through public reports on Brightway and other Malaysian glove makers, and violations found by labor audits, according to the complaint filed late on Tuesday in the United States.

Kimberly-Clark did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of regular U.S. business hours.

Ansell and Brightway said they did not have an immediate comment.

Malaysia, which depends on millions of migrant workers from South Asian countries, has faced allegations of exploitation across key export-oriented industries over the years. Eight Malaysian firms, including six glove makers, have been banned by the United States in the last three years.

In the lawsuit filed late on Tuesday in the United States, the 13 former Brightway workers say they paid high recruitment fees to middlemen that resulted in debt bondage, worked long hours with few or no rest days, and had their passports taken by the company.

They are seeking damages from Kimberly-Clark, a U.S. personal care company that owns the Kleenex brand, and Australian personal protective equipment supplier Ansell in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia.

“These companies cannot deny that they had knowledge of forced labor at Brightway,” said Terrence Collingsworth, a lawyer from International Rights Advocates representing the workers.

Collingsworth said he had first proposed mediation with Kimberly-Clark and Ansell to obtain compensation for the workers, but both companies declined.

The United States banned Brightway products from entering the country in December 2021 over suspected forced labor practices, saying it had found 10 of 11 International Labour Organization indicators of forced labor.

Allegations of misconduct at Brightway had been public for at least a year before that.

In December 2020, Malaysian officials found Brightway workers living in shipping containers, and a minister likened the squalid conditions as “modern slavery” after a raid.

Reuters reported in May 2021 that labor audits of Brightway had detailed 61 violations of global ethical standards and 50 violations of Malaysian labor laws, even though the auditors concluded that they did not find forced labor.

Ansell told Reuters at the time that the audits, when it inspected them, had “revealed several non-compliances with labor standards.”

Both companies then said Brightway had fixed some of these problems since the government raid in December.

Buyers such as Kimberly-Clark and Ansell use labor audits to monitor their supply chain.

Andy Hall, an independent labor activist who has investigated Brightway, said factories should not be the only players penalized for labor violations.

“Brands and buyers fail to comply with their stated commitments to conduct more adequate due diligence to prevent modern slavery conditions… We need adequate remediation from them too, and from investors and public procurers,” Hall said.

(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; editing by Gerry Doyle)