On March 16, 2007, Plaintiff filed a nationwide class action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama against two managers at the Pilgrim's Pride poultry plant in Russellville, Alabama. Plaintiff alleged that Pilgrim's Pride, one of the largest poultry operations in the country, and its predecessor, Gold Kist, Inc., engaged in a massive scheme to hire undocumented immigrants for the express purpose of depressing employee wages. In furtherance of their scheme, the defendants allegedly recruited scores of undocumented immigrants to work in their plants, provided free temporary housing at hotels, provided them transportation to and from work, turned a blind eye to obviously fake work papers, and reprimanded employees for "looking at the papers too closely." The plaintiff further alleged that after the defendants were notified of workers using false social security numbers, the undocumented workers would then simply assume new bogus identities and continue working. The plaintiff alleged that defendants' scheme violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO"), 18 U.S.C. § 1961 et seq. and the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a), et seq. The plaintiff was represented by private counsel.

On November 29, 2010, the Court (Lynwood Smith) granted Defendants' motion for summary judgment and dismissed with prejudice all claims of Plaintiffs. The Court reasoned that Plaintiffs had not provided sufficient evidence in support of their claims to create a genuine issue of material fact as to whether defendants violated the relevant provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

On December 24, 2010, Plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal, which was dismissed with prejudice on February 14, 2011. Plaintiffs were directed to pay costs in the amount of $56,607.02.

This case is closed.

Gregory Pitt - 07/17/2012


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