Perdue sued over illegal immigrant accusation

Company : No merit to class-action lawsuit on
processing plant hiring, wage practices

SALISBURY — Perdue Farms plant managers and human resources personnel are the target of a class-action lawsuit alleging that the poultry giant knowingly hired illegal immigrants, depressing wages for hourly workers in its processing facilities.

Motley Rice LLC, a South Carolina-based law firm, along with Jacoby & Meyers LLC and Foster P.C., announced they have filed a putative class-action lawsuit against numerous plant managers and human resource personnel of Perdue Farms Inc.

The complaint was filed on behalf of plaintiffs who allege the defendants have conspired to knowingly hire large numbers of illegal immigrants. According to the complaint, this “Illegal Immigrant Hiring Scheme” violates the federal immigration laws and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, and depresses the wages of legal workers below market levels.

Luis A. Luna, vice president of corporate communications for Perdue Farms, says Perdue does not think the lawsuit has any merit.

“Perdue follows all hiring laws and uses the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify system to determine an employee’s eligibility to work in the U.S.,” Luna said. “We also use auditors to independently verify that Perdue is following correct hiring practices.”

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama Southern Division on behalf of all hourly-paid workers legally authorized to be employed in the United States who are or have been employed by Perdue Farms since March 2006 at 16 poultry processing facilities.

Those facilities include the Accomac, Showell, Salisbury, Georgetown and Milford poultry processing plants, along with Bridgewater, Va.; Concord, N.C.; Cromwell, Ky.; Dillon, S.C.; Dothan, Ala.; Fayetteville, N.C.; Lewistown, N.C.; Monterey, Tenn.; Perry, Ga.; Rockingham, N.C.; and Washington, Ind.

“The lawsuit mentions poultry plants that have not been in operation for years,” Luna noted. “I can assure you we will vigorously fight it.”

In particular, the Showell plant closed down in November 2004, so former workers there wouldn’t even be eligible to participate in the case; the Fayetteville, N.C., facility closed in September 2006.

The defendants named in the complaint are all from Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia, as are the plaintiffs. But the plaintiffs think there are likely thousands of Perdue Farms employees who qualify as putative class-action members.

“Our clients have alleged that this hiring scheme is perpetrated every day as an integral part of Perdue’s regular hiring and employment practices and that it will continue unabated, victimizing legal workers until halted by judicial intervention,” Motley Rice attorney Lance Oliver stated.

The complaint, which is not a criminal case but a civil one, alleges Perdue managers not only knowingly hired workers with false documents but even “ ‘tip off’ the illegal aliens prior to any government raid.”

Ultimately, the plaintiffs are hoping for a financial settlement to compensate for what they say were wages depressed below a fair rate due to the hiring of low-paid illegal workers.

Source: http://DelMarvaNow.com