Tag: labor
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Natural Food Co. to Pay $1.5 Million in Justice Dept. Agreement on Federal Immigration Laws
Following an investigation into potential criminal violations of federal immigration laws, Mary’s Gone Crackers Inc. will pay $1.5 million and establish a corporate compliance program but will not be prosecuted, the U.S. Department of Justice has announced. The investigation determined that 48 of the company’s employees were ineligible to work in the United States; Mary’s…
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Civil Rights Organization Files OSHA Complaints Against Farming Company
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has urged the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to investigate Farm Fresh Foods, LLC, arguing the company forced sanitation workers to race against one another to carry and unpack 80-pound crates of chicken. The company allegedly required workers to unload raw chicken after cleaning the processing plant without…
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UK Court Holds Chicken Company Liable for Slavery Claims
The High Court of England and Wales has reportedly held DJ Houghton Chicken Catching Services liable for claims brought by six Lithuanian men who allege they were victims of trafficking. The company lost its license after police raids in 2012 found what the Gangmasters Licensing Authority called “the worst UK gangmaster ever.” The men assert…
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Cruz-Alvarez, Canfield Analyze SCOTUS Ruling in Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo
“The U.S. Supreme Court recently deviated from its historically stringent view on class certification and affirmed an Eighth Circuit decision to uphold certification of a class of Tyson Foods, Inc. employees who brought suit against Tyson for a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA),” Shook Miami attorneys Frank Cruz-Alvarez and Rachel…
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Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules for Workers in Hormel Don-Doff Class Action
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that a class of manufacturing-plant workers at Hormel Food Corp. should be paid for the time they need to change into and out of their required clothes and equipment. United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 1473 v. Hormel Food. Corp., No. 2014-AP-1880 (Wis., order entered March 1, 2016).…
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Chipotle Wins Dismissal of GMO False-Ad Suit, Loses Gender Discrimination Case
A California federal court has dismissed a lawsuit against Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. alleging the company falsely advertises its food as free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) despite selling meat and dairy produced from animals fed GMO products as well as soft drinks manufactured with GMO corn syrup. Gallagher v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., No.…
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Jury Holds Peanut Co. Liable for Employee’s Peanut Dust Inhalation
A jury in Alabama has found Golden Peanut Co. liable for an accident causing an employee welder to inhale peanut dust, resulting in a pneumonia infection and subsequent lung transplant. Smith v. Golden Peanut Co., No. 14-0999 (M.D. Ala., jury verdict filed January 15, 2015). The welder was apparently inside a grain elevator when a truck…
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Costco Shrimp Case Dismissed for Lack of Standing
A California federal court has dismissed a lawsuit against Costco Wholesale Corp. alleging the company’s shrimp was falsely advertised as adherent to a supplier code of conduct on human rights while the product was allegedly obtained through the use of slave labor. Sud v. Costco Wholesale Corp., No. 15-3783 (N.D. Cal., order entered January 15,…