A major clothes corporation sponsoring the US team at the Paris Olympics has become embroiled in a worker abuse scandal involving a factory where multiple staff have killed themselves.

Figs, a healthcare clothing firm which has supplied kits to Team USA’s medics at the 2024 Games and is valued at more than $1bn, has bought large quantities of clothing from the controversial Jordanian manufacturing group Needle Craft, i has learnt. Until last May, Figs was also the “official healthcare apparel partner” of Everton FC.

Needle Craft is currently under investigation by US customs over claims of “forced labour”, after i exposed the suicide of a young migrant worker who had been mistreated at one of its factories.  A young Bangladeshi woman working at Fine Apparel, was found dead in her bunk room last November and sources claimed she had been docked more than half her pay in the month ahead of her death.

Two more suspected suicides by workers at the same facility – Fine Apparel, which supplies the brands Under Armour, Columbia and American Eagle – have now come to light.

Alerted by i to the ongoing controversy, Figs said it was “shocked” and would now “quickly” cease trading with Needle Craft, while endeavouring “to support the human rights of garment workers in Jordan”...

Managers at Needle Craft had previously said they recognised “the severity of the allegations” and were working to “prevent any potential future occurrences”.

But more anonymous whistleblowers have since come forward, alleging senior staff at Fine Apparel continue to inflict sexual assaults and verbal abuse on many employees, who are unable to leave because bosses hold onto their passports.

Current and former staff at the factory claim that thousands of migrant workers from South Asia are still being forced to work up to 16 hours a day. This is said to often be in sweatshop conditions, with temperatures apparently reaching up to 40°C because air conditioning is allegedly turned off to save on electricity costs.

A current employee said: “It is a living hell working for this factory.”...

Figs has imported 23 shipments of clothing made by Needle Craft since allegations against the manufacturer were published in April, the records show. It is not known which of Needle Craft’s three factories in Zarqa, Jordan, produced them...

Challenged about Figs’s continued use of Needle Craft since i‘s investigation, the firm’s CEO and co-founder Trina Spear said: “Figs does not condone unethical working conditions of any kind and was shocked to hear of the allegations against Needle Craft.

“We have begun transitioning away from Needle Craft as a supplier, and will complete this transition as quickly as we can in a responsible manner,” she said. This exit will follow “ethical, fair and transparent business practices that support the wellbeing of its workers.”...

It is understood that Figs had vetted Needle Craft through visits to the manufacturer, and took confidence that other major companies used the group.

But Dominique Muller, policy lead at Labour Behind the Label, a campaign group which first informed i of allegations against Needle Craft, accused Figs of “duplicity” for only acting months after allegations were made public.

Figs “should be ashamed of failing to identify these in the first place and finally of simply cutting and running from the factory, leaving the workers to pay the price,” said Ms Muller...