New Jersey Temple Construction: Social Inequalities and Modern Slavery

On May 11, 2021, US federal agents raided the premises of a Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) temple in New Jersey and freed dozens of workers who had been operating under modern slavery conditions. Shortly afterward, six workers filed a class-action lawsuit against BAPS at the United States District Court, District of New Jersey. The lawsuit solicited to address the violation of the laws applied to workers, including laws prohibiting forced labour. The lawsuit claimed, among other things, that BAPS isolated workers, coerced workers to live and work in conditions causing psychological deterioration, limited workers’ outside contacts, and caused financial and reputational harm. Although this was only one particular case to come to light, it pointed to a broader problem faced by many companies across the world, either within their own operations or in the supply chains of the organizations they partnered with for corporate social responsibility purposes. How could companies ensure that they abided by fair labour practices and avoided the use of modern slavery?

<p align="justify">This case is suitable for use in a range of undergraduate, graduate, and executive education courses or modules dealing with business ethics and corporate social responsibility. It can also be used in courses on non-profit management, modern slavery, supply chains, global value chains, and international business. The case is ideally suited to courses that discuss how modern slavery practices remain hidden due a to lack of reliable and verifiable data, as well as courses that raise questions about modern slavery and the role of social, economic, and cultural factors.<br><br>After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:</p><ul><li>Develop a deeper understanding of what modern slavery is.</li><li>Recognize the relevant signs and behaviours of modern slavery.</li><li>Understand the role that social, economic, and cultural factors play in modern slavery.</li><li>Identify how some businesses benefit from modern slavery and determine what they should do to avoid promoting the practice.</li><li>Understand how modern slavery practices travel internationally.</li><li>Explore the critical barriers to ending modern slavery.</li></ul>

• modern slavery
• caste
• non-profit
• supply chains
• global value chains
• international business