The United Kingdom Court of Appeal ruled on Friday that two dozen Bangladeshi and Nepali workers, allegedly subjected to forced labour in Malaysia, could sue Dyson, a British vacuum cleaner manufacturer in London.
The 24 claimants, including a worker who passed away, filed the lawsuit in 2022 against Dyson Technology Ltd, Dyson Ltd, and Malaysian firm ATA Industrial or its sister company.
The workers were employed to produce components for Dyson products.
According to the lawsuit filed with London鈥檚 High Court, the workers endured unlawful wage deductions and physical abuse for failing to meet stringent production targets.
Their lawyers argue that Dyson bears ultimate responsibility for these abuses.
Dyson, which terminated its Malaysian subsidiary鈥檚 contract with ATA in 2021, denied the allegations and contended that the case should be heard in Malaysia, and not in Britain.
In 2023, the UK High Court sided with Dyson and ruled that Malaysia was the appropriate jurisdiction.
The Court of Appeal, however, overturned that decision, declaring London to be the 鈥榗learly and distinctly appropriate forum鈥� for the case.
鈥楾his was a procedural hearing to determine where the main case should ultimately be heard,鈥� a Dyson spokesperson said, adding that the company disagreed with the appeal decision and was reviewing its legal options.
The company, founded by James Dyson, employs around 2,500 people in Britain, primarily at its R&D center in Malmesbury, England. In July, Dyson announced it was cutting about 1,000 jobs.
Over 1.2 million Bangladeshis have migrated to the south-east Asian country since 2004 as the country is one of the major destinations for Bangladeshi workers.
The allegations of rights violations and abuse, however, were not new.