Allegations of labor abuses dogged Mississippi plant years before immigration raids

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. AUGUST 9, 2019 / 10:40 AM / UPDATED 10 HOURS AGO

Allegations of labor abuses dogged Mississippi plant years before immigration raids

Mica Rosenberg, Kristina Cooke
8 MIN READ

(Reuters) - Long before U.S. immigration authorities arrested 680 people at agricultural processing facilities in Mississippi this week, one of the five targeted companies faced allegations of serious labor violations including intimidation, harassment and exploitation of its largely immigrant work force, according to a federal lawsuit.

Last August, Illinois-based poultry supplier Koch Foods settled a multi-year lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of more than 100 workers at the Morton, Mississippi, plant over claims the company knew - or should have known - of sexual and physical assaults against its Hispanic workers.

Mark Kaminsky, chief operating officer at Koch, said the company admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement and maintains, after fighting the matter in court for more than eight years, that all the allegations contained in the lawsuit are false.

The workers’ complaints spanned 2004 to 2008, when the plant employed more than 500 people. They alleged that a manager would grope women from behind while they were working, punch employees and throw chicken parts at them. Workers also alleged that supervisors coerced payments from them for everything from medical leave and promotions to bathroom breaks.

Privately held Koch Foods, run by billionaire Joseph Grendys, in court filings called the claims of abuse and harassment “baffling” and “outrageous.” ...

-snip-

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-koch-foods/allegations-of-labor-abuses-dogged-mississippi-plant-years-before-immigration-raids-idUSKCN1UZ1OV

[Sherman A1]

1. I hope that

His life is filled with lawyers for a very long time.