October 13, 2006, - 12:56 pm
Class Action I Like: Lawsuit Against Illegal Alien Employer Tyson Foods Gets Big
By
On this site, I’ve repeatedly .
But, finally, there’s one for a great cause–Americans who lost their jobs to illegal aliens. It’s Trollinger v. Tyson Foods, Inc., 370 F.3d 602 (6th Cir. 2004).
Curtis L. Collier, a federal judge in Chattanooga, Tennessee granted class-action status to a lawsuit filed against Tyson Foods by four former employees who lost their jobs or had their wages depressed because Tyson knowingly hired illegal aliens at eight meat-packing plants.
The four employees–Birda Trollinger, Robert Martinez, Tabetha Edding and Doris Jewell–say the deliberate hiring of illegal aliens depressed their earnings by $8-$10 per HOUR! Note that three are women and one is Hispanic. Yes, opposition to illegal aliens stealing America out from under us is not about racism, nativism, or bigotry. It’s about taking back our country and instituting just a tad of national security.
It’s a huge move because it means that lawyer Howard W. Foster, who filed the suit, is now potentially representing thousands of American citizens who lost their jobs to illegal aliens, thanks to Tyson’s unscrupulous and illegal behavior. Tyson may have to pay multi-millions in a settlement or judgment, the only kind of punishment most American employers of illegal aliens understand.
Of course, Tyson could also face criminal charges–if Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) chieftess a/k/a “The ICE Princess” would bother to have her agents investigate, raid, and make arrests of Tyson executives breaking immigration laws. But she isn’t. Because there are jobs that some Americans just won’t do–like enforcing immigration laws. Remember all the ? We haven’t seen any in a while, now that there’s now way immigration legislation will pass before the election. So, these days, The ICE Princess is busy making , courtesy of you.
Well before Myers’ fleeting, unworthy tenure at ICE, then-INS agents did their job well trying to get Tyson. In March 2003, an O.J.-style jury acquitted Tyson and three former managers of conspiring to hire illegal aliens from Latin America, in order to bring down wages and shore up the bottom line. But we don’t know the quality of the case the lackluster Bush Justice Department put on. Bush’s Justice allowed two Tyson managers to plead and get a year of probation, a slap on the wrist and hardly a tough message to the alien-hiring crowd.
This time, when it’s out-of-work, hard-working Americans and their lawyer running the show, we think–and hope–the result will be different.
Until then–and probably after–don’t by Tyson Foods products. Me–I don’t buy ’em anyway. I only eat kosher meat. Regardless, we now know Tyson Foods simply isn’t kosher for American survival.
The eight Tyson plants named in the suit are at Shelbyville; Corydon, Ind.; Gadsden, Ala., Blountsville, Ala., Ashland, Ala.; Sedalia, Mo.; Center, Texas and Glen Allen, Va. If you work or did work at one of these Tyson Foods plants–or know someone who did–please contact attorney Howard Foster of Chicago law firm Johnson & Bell to join the suit.
Tags: Alabama, America, Ashland, attorney, Birda Trollinger, Blountsville, Bush, Center, Chattanooga, Chicago, Corydon, Curtis L. Collier, Debbie Schlussel On, Department of Justice, Doris Jewell, federal judge, Gadsden, Glen Allen, Howard W. Foster, Howard W. Foster Fights Tyson, Indiana, Johnson & Bell, Julie L. Myers, Latin America, law, lawyer, Missouri, Princess, Robert Martinez, Sedalia, Shelbyville, Tabetha Edding, Tennessee, Texas, Tyson Foods Inc., USD, Virginia
Ms. Schlussel, you are exactly right in your assessment of ICE HQ not wanting to enforce employer sanctions law criminally; it would create too much of a political ruckus in this country to see “respectable” businesspeople being “perp walked” over such a “minor” matter as hiring “undocumented” workers (not illegal – they’ll never say illegal, because that would imply that thay would actually have to ENFORCE THE LAW).
A funny story that I wanted to share with you that was relayed to me by a friend in a major SAC office…Recently, his investigative group responded to complaints from local police (yes, police, supposedly our partners that we’d want to help), business owners and community residents that upwards of 100 illegals would congregate daily in front of a major business to seek day labor. The worst of it was that, in recently weeks, these illegals have been throwing rocks a vehicles that won’t hire them (does the word “terror” come to mind here?), they have gotten themselves hit by cars chasing after vehicles to get hired (nice way to sue a poor motorist whose insurance rates will go through the roof) and others are afraid to approach busineses in the area because they are afraid of being harassed, jostled or outright assaulted by these thugs.
So, what do my good friends in that group do? THEIR DUTY, of course, and respond to the scene with what little manpower they had (remember, other squads are swamped with their own work handling not just one, but TWO distinct missions – immigration AND customs). After arresting a small fraction of these violators, they were processed at the office – hours (almost 9 in all) were squandered trying to use the cumbersome legacy INS booking system, reentering the SAME information into the legacy Customs system (because legacy INS system can’t capture stats) and asking the immigration jail for PERMISSION (YES, PERMISSION, because of limited bed space) to take them there for deportation proceedings. You’d think HQ would be happy with even a small success, right?
WRONG !!! Later that night, my friend gets a call from an HQ Desk Officer, absolutely CRAPPING HIS PANTS that his group DARED to effect this type of action without consulting with HQ first. He then went on to tounge-lash my friend for his choice of words in his report (all of which were true, but politically incorrect) and admonishing him that the “executive management” would “not be pleased” with these developments. So much for having a nice evening after a tough day.
As you would say: PUH-LEEZE !!! In all my time as a legacy Customs Special Agent arresting people for drugs, money laundering, weapons violations and G-d knows what else, it took me less time to get even multiple violators booked into jail than it took me to arrest them. Furthermore, I can NEVER, EVER recall a time that some HQ weenie called me at the end of a day to CRITICIZE me for my actions. This is why I, and many of my legacy Customs colleagues ABSOLUTELY REFUSE (UNLESS ORDERED, IN RESPONSE TO A SPECIFIC REQUEST OR THE CASE IS “WORTH IT” (e.g. sexual predator alien, criminal alien, re-enrty after deportation, etc.)) to proactively seek out illegals for enforcement, especially in worksite enforcement envirionments – IT IS ABSOLUTELY NOT WORTH IT !!!
Ms. Schlussel, you, and the rest of the American public, better start getting ready for the big shutdown from ICE Special Agents around the country, especially from the legacy Customs agents who were hjijacked into this abortion. It doesn’t take rocket science to write up an administrative violation, and, if you’ve got to do crap work in any event, no one wants to sit there and get pummeled (by HQ staff, no less) at the end of a long day for doing their job.
4EVERCUSTOMS on October 14, 2006 at 8:30 am