Rights Group Targets Rapper's Clothing Line

"These women don't need to be trapped in misery," Charles Kernaghan, director of the National Labor Committee, said at a news conference in front of the Fifth Avenue clothing store that Combs plans to open this spring.

He accused the Southeast Textiles S.A. factory in Choloma, Honduras, of forcing unpaid overtime on its workers and barring bathroom visits without permission. He appeared with Lydda Eli Gonzalez, 19, who said she had been fired from her job at the factory after 13 months and had endured abusive working conditions.

The factory's owner, Steve Hawkins, told Associated Press that the claims of substandard conditions were "completely groundless."

Jeff Tweedy, executive vice president of Sean John, the clothing company owned by Combs, said in a statement that the company was "shocked" at the group's allegations and had no knowledge of any wrongdoing.

Tweedy said that extensive compliance checks are conducted at all facilities supplying Sean John to ensure they are clean and safe. "We will not tolerate any violation of labor laws at facilities in which our merchandise is manufactured," he said.

He pledged that an investigation would be launched, and if any proof of wrongdoing is found, Combs' company would immediately terminate its relationship with the factory.

In a report, the National Labor Committee said corporate audits of the factory were "a sham," and to a large extent were "staged events" designed to make a good impression.

Kernaghan said his group did not want Combs to cease ties with the factory, but rather to demand better working conditions there. "These women need these jobs," he said. "And they are willing to work very hard but they want to be treated like human beings.

"This is not an attack upon Mr. Combs," Kernaghan said. "I believe he doesn't understand or doesn't know the conditions around the world in the factories which are producing his goods. This is an appeal to Mr. Combs to do the right thing."

At the sidewalk news conference, Gonzalez said that workers were not paid overtime and that supervisors would "stand over us shouting and cursing at us to go faster