Fate of Agriprocessors detainees to be debated tomorrow

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jon Stuart Scoles has agreed to hold a telephone hearing Thursday morning to allow the U.S. Department of Labor to state its case for deposing nine former Agriprocessors workers prior to their deportation.

Documents filed with the court indicate that U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and the federal agency are “currently investigating the pay practices at Agriprocessors, Inc.” and expect to file “an action against Agriprocessors, Inc.”

The nine men in question were detained in a May immigration raid at the kosher meatpacking plant in Postville. They entered guilty pleas to criminal charges and are now prisoners in Floria federal facilities. All nine are due to be deported from the U.S. on Oct. 10.

“The petitioner … is presently unable to bring the action [against Agriprocessors] because additional evidence from employees regarding hours they worked without pay is needed,” Andrea Christensen Luby, attorney for the agency, wrote in the motion filed Tuesday. “The payroll records of Agriprocessors, Inc. do not reflect all hours worked by the employees, and the testimony of employees is needed to establish the amount of back wages due the employees.”

If granted permission to interview the former employees, the agency plans to discuss their dates of employment; departments in which they worked; their unrecorded hours worked pre-shift, post-shift and pre- and post-lunch break; their wages paid; their job duties; the protective equipment and clothing needed to perform their duties; and the procedures and policies regarding obtaining, donning and doffing of the protective gear.

Because of an addition motion to expedite the court proceedings, Scoles nearly immediately granted the telephone hearing between representatives from the Labor Department and Jeffry A. Meyer, a New York-based attorney representing Agriprocessors.

Scoles has served as referring judge on at least four previous cases, ranging from 2004 to the present, that have involved Agriprocessors. To date his association with the quick criminal prosecution of immigration detainees at Agriprocessors has not been called into question in any other cases related to the meatpacking plant.

In August an attorney for Martin De La Rosa-Loera, a former supervisor at Agriprocessors who has pleaded guilty to encouraging illegal immigration, filed a motion that questioned Chief Judge Linda R. Reade’s participation. In addition to her leadership role in the more than 300 criminal cases, the attorney pointed to comments Reade made in the press as possible defense of the quick proceedings in makeshift courtrooms. Reade said Tuesday that she has not formed any opinions about the De La Rosa-Loera case and refused to recuse herself from the upcoming sentencing.

Prior to the raid Agriprocessors was the nation’s largest producer of kosher meat. The plant continues to struggle to rebuild its workforce and return to pre-raid levels of production. Officials with Agriprocessors could not be reached for immediate comment due to a Jewish holiday.

It remains unclear if the wage investigation by the Department of Labor began recently or was one of the items already under investigation prior to the May raid. If this investigation does lead to action, it would mark the third such ongoing government case against the meatpacking company.