Poultry processor, Cagle's-Keystone Foods has settled a federal employment rights lawsuit brought by twelve migrant workers, represented by the Equal Justice Center, Southern Migrant Legal Services, and Texas Rural Legal Aid.  The workers are continuing to pursue their claims against the labor contractor the company used to recruit the migrant workers.  According to the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in El Paso, the company and the labor contractor recruited the migrant workers in the U.S.-Mexico border region for work in the Cagle's-Keystone plant in Albany Kentucky.  The workers alleged that the company and the contractor gave them false and misleading information about the terms of their employment, failed to pay them the required minimum wage, made illegal deductions from their wages, failed to pay them for all their work times, and housed them in substandard housing.  The suit sought unpaid wages and damages under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.  Under the settlement agreement, the terms of the settlement with Cagle's-Keystone must remain undisclosed. 

Maria De La Luz Borjas, et al. v. Cagle's-Keystone Foods, et al., No. EP02CA-0415 (W.D. Texas, complaint filed September 23, 2002).   Download a PDF copy of the complaint.