Tyson Foods Hit with RICO Lawsuit over Illegal Hires


Suit focuses on Tyson relationship with advocacy group

MICHELLE BRADFORD

The plaintiffs in a lawsuit accusing Tyson Foods Inc. of hiring illegal aliens to work at poultry plants are focusing on the meat producer’s relationship with the League of Latin American Citizens.

The class-action suit in U. S. District Court in Eastern Tennessee claims Springdale-based Tyson Foods knowingly hired illegal aliens to work for wages below what American workers would take. It was filed in April 2002 on behalf of former Tyson workers in several states, not including Arkansas.

Trial is set for March 3.

The plaintiffs in Trollinger v. Tyson are chicken plant workers who said they were harmed by a scheme by Tyson’s top management to depress wages, court documents state.

“We believe Tyson has used its relationship with LULAC to help carry out a ‘willful blindness’ policy of hiring illegal workers,â€