260 workers fired at Los Angeles County food plant

The Associated Press
4:59 a.m. June 12, 2009

VERNON, Calif. β€” More than 200 workers at a major food-processing plant in Los Angeles County were fired after the Internal Revenue Service found they provided invalid Social Security numbers.

The IRS audit found the numbers of 260 workers at Overhill Farms didn't check out. The government took no action against the company but Overhill fired the workers May 31.

Overhill, whose work force is largely Latino, does not know the legal status of the fired employees but says it risked potential criminal liability under tax and immigration laws if it continued employing them after the audit.

The workers' union says the company acted hastily and unnecessarily.

The workers find themselves without work in a precarious jobs market, and without any severance or medical insurance.

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