American Apparel (USA) LLC safety record at a glance
American Apparel (USA) LLC has been the subject of 12 Cal/OSHA inspections in California since 2000, opened between Nov 17, 2006 and Dec 1, 2016. 8 of them were accident inspections. 10 of them produced citations, 37 in all: 14 serious. Inspectors proposed $178,560 in penalties; after appeals and settlements the current total is $115,625. The largest single penalty, $21,375, came from an inspection opened Sep 10, 2015 in Los Angeles. 1 worker death was investigated. That places the employer at #331 of 122,854 California employers in the database by penalties. The same employer has 3 WARN layoff notices on file with the EDD. It also appears in 1 federal wage and hour case.
Industry as coded by the inspecting office: Manufacturing; Retail Trade. Worksites in Los Angeles, Hawthorne, Garden Grove, South Gate.
Every inspection, newest first
Click a date for the citations in that inspection.
| Opened | City | Why | Result | Proposed | Penalty | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 1, 2016 | Los Angeles | Follow-up | 7 citations 3 serious | $20,545 | $20,545 | open |
| Sep 10, 2015 | Los Angeles | Accident | 2 citations 2 serious | $28,125 | $21,375 | open |
| Sep 10, 2015 | Los Angeles | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | Feb 10, 2016 |
| Mar 10, 2015 | Hawthorne | Accident | 1 citation 1 serious | $18,000 | $18,000 | Jul 1, 2015 |
| Jan 5, 2012 | Garden Grove | Accident | death 4 citations | $2,020 | $2,020 | Aug 15, 2012 |
| Dec 15, 2011 | Los Angeles | Accident | 3 citations 2 serious | $25,125 | $13,875 | Oct 9, 2013 |
| Nov 3, 2011 | Los Angeles | Accident | no citations | 0 | 0 | Feb 16, 2012 |
| Aug 26, 2011 | Los Angeles | Accident | 3 citations 1 serious | $8,600 | $4,750 | Oct 21, 2013 |
| Feb 16, 2011 | South Gate | Planned | 2 citations | $3,655 | $785 | Nov 22, 2012 |
| Mar 8, 2010 | Los Angeles | Complaint | 6 citations 1 serious | $15,750 | $6,000 | May 28, 2011 |
| Sep 3, 2008 | Los Angeles | Accident | 5 citations 2 serious | $33,075 | $18,855 | Apr 1, 2011 |
| Nov 17, 2006 | Los Angeles | Accident | 4 citations 2 serious | $23,665 | $9,420 | Dec 9, 2008 |
Also recorded as: American Apparel (USA), LLC; American Apparel; American Apparel, (USA), LLC; American Apparel Inc; American Apparel, LLC.
The rules this employer was cited under
- 8 CCR 3314, Lockout and cleaning of machinery: 9 citations, 5 serious, $33,035
- 8 CCR 3203, Injury and Illness Prevention Program: 4 citations, $1,190
- 8 CCR 4475: 3 citations, 1 serious, $4,575
- 8 CCR 4186: 2 citations, 2 serious, $24,750
- 8 CCR 5193, Bloodborne pathogens: 2 citations, 1 serious, $4,500
- 8 CCR 4184, Cranes and derricks, general: 1 citation, 1 serious, $18,000
- 8 CCR 4075: 1 citation, 1 serious, $18,000
- 8 CCR 3650, Industrial trucks, operating rules: 1 citation, 1 serious, $5,735
Accidents investigated
Local pages: Los Angeles employment lawyer, Hawthorne employment lawyer, Garden Grove employment lawyer.
How to read this record
Each row is one inspection by Cal/OSHA (or, rarely, federal OSHA) of one worksite. Why is the reason it was opened. Proposed is the penalty the inspector assessed; penalty is the current figure after any appeal or settlement. "Serious" means a realistic possibility of death or serious harm; "willful" and "repeat" carry penalties up to $162,851 each.
Citations document that the employer was told, in writing, what the rule required and when. That knowledge is often the center of a retaliation case: a worker who complained about the hazard an inspector later cited, and was then fired or cut, has a Labor Code 6310 claim, with lost wages and attorney's fees.
Full explainer: how to read a Cal/OSHA record.
If you work, or worked, at American Apparel (USA) LLC
Write down what you reported, to whom and when, and what changed afterward: shifts, pay, duties, write-ups. Request the inspection file from the Cal/OSHA district office using the activity number on the inspection page. An injury goes through workers' compensation; a firing, demotion or threat after a safety complaint or injury report is an employment claim with a one-year deadline at the Labor Commissioner (Labor Code 6310) and a longer one in court. Free, confidential review: (800) 371-3088 or send what you have.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor OSHA enforcement data, California inspections. Record last checked Nov 1, 2026. Back to the safety tracker.
About this data: Records come from the U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA enforcement datasets (inspection, violation, accident and accident injury tables), which carry Cal/OSHA's state-plan inspections alongside federal ones. We load every inspection of a California worksite opened since January 1, 2000 and refresh it weekly. Employer names, addresses and industry codes are as the inspecting office recorded them; similar names are grouped where they clearly refer to the same employer. A citation can be reduced, vacated or withdrawn on appeal, and an inspection can stay open for months, so a record can change. Penalties shown as "current" reflect the latest status in the federal file. This page is public information about the employer's regulatory record, not legal advice and not a statement that any person was harmed or any law broken beyond what the record states.