Dyson settles a landmark supply chain case.

Live from the UK, this is the Marketplace Morning Report from the BBC World Service.

I'm Leanna Byrne. Good morning.

The British manufacturer Dyson has settled a lawsuit brought by 24 migrant workers.

They claim they were subjected to forced labour and abusive treatment at a factory in Malaysia

that made parts for Dyson. Dyson denies any liability for the abuses. The case is important

because it establishes a precedent that claims against foreign companies supplying British firms

can be judged in an English court. The BBC's Jonathan Head reports from Bangkok.

The migrant workers from Nepal and Bangladesh have described being threatened and beaten

in the Malaysian factory where they made components for Dyson, having their passports

withheld and being forced to work long hours in unsanitary conditions, amounting they said,

to modern-day slavery. When they filed their compensation

case in 2022, Dyson stated that it had been unaware of the alleged abuses and that their

Malaysian employer should be held responsible. Dyson also argued that the case should be heard

in Malaysia, not Britain. However, the Supreme Court agreed that the trial could take place

in an English court, establishing a precedent that British companies can be held to account in the UK

for actions taken by suppliers in another country. Under the terms of the settlement, the details

of any compensation to the workers are not being disclosed,

and the lawyers representing them have echoed Dyson's statement that this deal is not an

admission of liability on its part. Labor activists have for many years drawn attention to the

problem of abuses of the large migrant worker population in Malaysia. Jonathan Head, BBC News, Bangkok.

Now let's do the numbers.

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