Wal-Mart Stores Inc has suspended one of its seafood suppliers amid allegations that the company, CJ's Seafood of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, violated several federal labour laws.
The retailing giant launched an investigation of CJ's Seafood following a report published by labour rights group the Worker Rights Consortium that said the crawfish processor abused migrant workers, forced them to work 24 hour shifts and used threats to prevent them from complaining to authorities.
Wal-Mart found that CJ's Seafood had violated some of its supplier standards, including record-keeping violations and wage requirements, but its investigation was not yet complete.
The seafood company, which employs 50 to 60 mostly migrant workers, is under investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Department of Labour.
Several more of Wal-Mart's suppliers were guilty of similar labour violations, said Saket Soni, director of the National Guestworker Alliance, a migrant worker advocacy group that requested the Worker Rights Consortium's investigation.