Boss Watch: 10/31 – 11/28

Jacob Morrison

Illegal activities of Southern Bosses for the weeks between Friday, October 31, and Friday, November 28

Alabama Law Violators

An AL(dot)com analysis of mass layoffs in the state finds that employers in Alabama only follow the federal Worker Readjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act – which requires them to provide at least 60 days notice ahead of a mass layoff or plant closure affecting 50 or more employers – 45% of the time. Which means that employers who engage in mass layoffs in Alabama break the law literally a majority of the time, but AL(dot)com found that the state’s workforce agency, which can investigate and act against employers who violate the law, have never done so on behalf of the wronged working Alabamians.

Mississippi Discriminators

Seward and Son Planting Company, a farming operation with 22,000 acres of corn, soybeans and cotton in Louise, Mississippi, will pay $150,000 and implement policy changes via a three-year consent decree to settle a race and national origin discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, starting Dec. 1, 2020, Seward and Son began hiring immigrant agricultural workers from a foreign country to supplement its existing workforce, which consisted of primarily black farm workers of American national origin. The EEOC alleged that Seward and Son discriminated against its American workers by providing the foreign workers with preferential job assignments which were less strenuous, and had more work hours, higher pay, and higher bonuses.

In addition to monetary damages for the class of black American farm laborers, the decree requires that Seward and Son review, revise as necessary, and disseminate its anti-discrimination policy instructing employees about their rights and how to report discrimination or retaliation. The decree also requires Seward and Son to annually train its managers and employees on discrimination and retaliation and provides other injunctive relief against the company to prevent such unlawful conduct in the future.

Arkansas Harassers

Simply Slims, L.L.C., doing business as Slim Chickens, will pay $300,000 and provide other relief to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the company received two complaints of sexual harassment by a shift manager at the Hot Springs location on or before April 2022; however, the company allowed the shift manager’s harassment to go unchecked. The company’s inaction continued through July 2022, when four more young female workers complained of sexual harassment against the same shift manager, according to the suit.

“As young people step into today’s work environment, many continue to experience harassment,” said Faye Williams, regional attorney for EEOC’s Memphis District Office. “This case sends a clear message to employers: the EEOC is steadfast in its commitment to eliminating discrimination and ensuring that all workers are protected from harassment in the workplace.”

The two-year consent decree resolving the charge, entered by Chief U.S. District Judge Susan O. Hickey, requires Slim Chickens to revise and distribute its sexual harassment policy and provide sexual harassment training to all employees for two years.

Louisiana Thieves

A U.S. Department of Labor investigation found a restaurant kept tips earned by workers, in violation of federal wage law. 

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that the owners of the restaurant Chopstix Buffet kept all tips intended for their employees that were paid by credit card, in violation of federal tip pooling provisions. The investigation recovered $81,681 in tips for 12 workers. Additionally, one employee was paid only in tips and denied $1,435 in earned minimum wage. The department also assessed $1,188 in civil money penalties. 

“The law does not allow owners and managers to keep tips given by customers to service employees,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Troy Mouton in New Orleans. “Tips belong to service workers. Employers that allow managers and owners to receive portions of those tips can face investigations or litigation. The Wage and Hour Division is available to provide compliance assistance to help employers understand their obligations to tipped employees.”

Killed On The Job

Workers die on the job every day in the United States – 100 workers every week. Frustratingly, most of these deaths are preventable, but they are often not investigated due to underfunding at OSHA, and often the community doesn’t even know it’s happened. Even though OSHA is even more hamstrung than before, there is sometimes a small news story whenever someone dies at work because it’s such a terrible thing to happen in a community. 

On the Confined Space Newsletter – set up by Jordan Barab, a former OSHA official – they compile as many news stories on worker deaths as he can find every week. In addition to this newsletter, they regularly host commentary and analysis pieces about labor and workplace safety. You can find it all at jordanbarab.com/confinedspace

This week, they found 24 stories of deaths on the job, including 12 from the South. 

Here are a couple lowlights: 

  • St Gabriel, LA – One worker died and another worker was hurt after being exposed to hydrofluoric acid at the Koura Plant. The St. Gabriel Police Department confirmed its officers are investigating along with OSHA and the Louisiana State Police. The company said in a statement that nobody else was hurt, there is no environmental impact, and the exposure has been contained. 
  • Coconut Grove, FL – A 29-year-old construction worker was killed when a concrete wall collapsed at a home under renovation in Coconut Grove. After nearly seven hours at the scene, the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office removed the body of the victim, identified as Jorge Esteban Rojas, a Cuban man who would have turned 30 next week. His death has prompted a joint investigation involving Miami police and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The collapse was reported shortly before 11 a.m. at a house in the 2900 block of Southwest 22nd Avenue. According to Miami Police spokesperson Mike Vega, workers had been attempting to knock down one of the home’s interior walls when it suddenly gave way. Baldwin County, AL — A Louisiana man is dead after single-vehicle crash in south Alabama. According to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, a crash occurred at about 4:23 p.m. in Baldwin County on Interstate 65 involving a 2020 Freightliner Cascadia tractor-trailer. The vehicle, driven by Timothy Tate, 52, left the road and struck several trees but continued to cross a highway before striking another set of trees. Tate, from Hammond, Louisiana, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Union Busters

Brought to you by LaborLab: The nation’s leading watchdog standing with working families to stop employer coercion and intimidation. Visit www.laborlab.us for more info.

This segment of Boss Watch – union busters, covering national updates – is sponsored by LaborLabor.  LaborLab is an employer watchdog organization. They are committed to safeguarding the right to organize through unions, collective bargaining, and mutual aid. They do this by combing through reports that union busters are required to file with the Department of Labor

Here are the new filings from this week:

In addition, the following LM-20s were amended:

As a reminder, due to a lack of enforcement, some labor relations consultants may disregard the law and fail to report their activities to the U.S. Department of Labor. Therefore, it’s crucial for organizers and workers to report suspected “persuader” activity to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS).

It’s crucial for organizers and workers to report suspected “persuader” activity to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS). You can reach them via email at  OLMS-Public@dol.gov, by calling (202) 693-0123, or by contacting your nearest OLMS District Office.

For assistance, please contact LaborLab at contact@laborlab.us.