A New York City designer to stars – including the likes of Julia Roberts and Cynthia Erivo – has been charged with running a “sweatshop” and bilking her employees out of thousands in unpaid wages.
Andrea Mary Marshall, the founder of the Garment District atelier Salon 1884, is accused of stealing roughly $54,000 from her nine employees and forcing them to work “exploitative” hours, with unpaid shifts lasting up to 17 hours a day, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office.
Marshall, 44, was arraigned on charges of grand larceny, scheme to defraud, effective failure to secure compensation and five counts of failure to labor law-mandated pay wages in Manhattan court Wednesday.
She pleaded not guilty to charges including grand larceny, scheme to defraud, effective failure to secure compensation and five counts of failure to pay labor law-mandated wages, and was released without bail.
The alleged fraudster attempted to hide from cameras as she left the courthouse, flashing what appeared to be an $8,000, yellow Cartier Love bracelet around her once-handcuffed wrist, which she paired with a silk white blouse and sporty ponytail.
Marshall’s designs – which include a $9,000 lambskin leather dress and other pricey, luxury goods – have been featured in Vogue Magazine and sold at high-end retailers including Neiman Marcus and Moda Operandi.
Now, she’s accused of running her 39th Street studio like a “sweatshop,” where desperate employees had to beg for reimbursement for working up to 100 hours per week and consecutive overnight shifts, Bragg’s office alleged in a statement.
Stunning text messages between Marshall and her employees released by the DA show one worker begging the designer for just a fraction of the payments she was allegedly owed.
“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,” the March 19 message read.
The worker then followed up with praying hands emojis two days after Marshall failed to respond, the thread shows.
Another text shows a hopeless staffer begging Marshall to “pay me something” in order to send it to her ill son in May.
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“Please, I’m asking you. He’s sick,” read the heart-wrenching message, which also seemingly went unanswered.
One spine-chilling message from Marshall showed her reprimanding a third employee who was requesting payment.
“You are not allowed in my office. Give me your address and I will mail you a check,” Marshall wrote in the March text, which was also released by the DA’s office.
Bragg said the investigation into Marshall’s alleged crimes is ongoing, and encouraged any additional victims to come forward.
Marshall “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,” the district attorney wrote in the Wednesday news release.
The charges against the Boston-born designer carry a maximum sentence of 5 to 15 years behind bars.
Her next court date was set for Sept. 23.
Her lawyer didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
