Jeanfromfillmore
03-01-2011, 10:52 AM
Howard Industries facing another lawsuit
Women file discrimination lawsuit; say they weren’t hired because of their race
LAUREL — Howard Industries Inc. may soon find itself back in U.S. District Court in Hattiesburg, this time as a result of a discrimination lawsuit filed by four African-American women who claim they were discriminated against for not being Latino.
The Laurel-based company pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy in the nation’s largest workplace raid on illegal immigrants. Howard Industries also agreed to pay a $2.5 million fine in the case, which alleged that former Human Resources Manager Jose Humberto Gonzalez hired hundreds of illegal immigrants at the Laurel electrical transformer plant.
Gonzalez, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy in December 2009, will be sentenced Thursday.
According to the lawsuit filed Friday, Howard Industries is accused of denying employment to all “non-Latino” persons who applied between August 2000 and Aug. 25, 2008, during the time the illegal workers were brought into the company.
Court documents state that Gonzalez routinely hired illegal aliens and accepted false identity documents, including alien registration receipt cards and Social Security cards, despite the documents being invalid.
In the lawsuit, Yolanda Phelps and Seleatha McGee of Jones County, Veronica Cook of Jasper County and Charlyn Dozier of Erie County claim Howard Industries “devised, implemented, carried out, and controlled an employment policy whereby Latino job applicants, all or nearly all being undocumented Mexican immigrants, were given preferential treatment in hiring.”
The four women claim they all applied for employment at Howard Industries during the time frame and were not hired due to their race, despite passing all required tests. They say that they were eventually brought on after the immigration raid on Aug. 28, 2008, which found 592 undocumented workers at the Laurel transformer plant.
The lawsuit claims that one of the plaintiffs, Charlyn Dozier, applied for a job with Howard Industries every three to six months beginning in 2002, but wasn't offered a position until after the 2008 raid. In the days following the raid, hundreds of people lined up outside the plant to apply for positions.
Their attorney, Lisa M. Ross, said there's more to the case than just preferring illegal immigrants. She thinks the company was acting on racial stereotypes that Latinos work harder than blacks and whites and would put up with conditions that American workers may find objectionable.
“As a result of bringing in undocumented Latino workers, they were discriminating against blacks and whites,” she told the Associated Press.
They are suing for economic loss, humiliation, embarrassment, physical and emotional distress, and mental anguish.
Attempts to reach attorney Lisa Ross, who is representing the women in the case, were unsuccessful as of press time.
Howard Industries declined to comment on the lawsuit.
http://leadercall.com/local/x1771105387/Howard-Industries-facing-another-lawsuit
Lawsuit: Company sought to hire illegal immigrants
JACKSON, Miss.
A company that pleaded guilty to conspiracy related to the nation's largest workplace raid on illegal immigrants has been accused in a lawsuit of withholding jobs from U.S. citizens.
Immigration agents detained about 600 illegal immigrants at Howard Industries' plant in Laurel, Miss., in 2008. The company pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy to violate immigration laws. It was fined $2.5 million.
A lawsuit filed Friday claims the company's hiring practices gave preferential treatment to illegal immigrants.
Howard Industries did not comment on the lawsuit.
The company denied knowing that illegal immigrants worked at the plant, blaming the situation on its former personnel director. He was the only company executive charged. His sentencing is Thursday.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9LM0NS82.htm
Women file discrimination lawsuit; say they weren’t hired because of their race
LAUREL — Howard Industries Inc. may soon find itself back in U.S. District Court in Hattiesburg, this time as a result of a discrimination lawsuit filed by four African-American women who claim they were discriminated against for not being Latino.
The Laurel-based company pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy in the nation’s largest workplace raid on illegal immigrants. Howard Industries also agreed to pay a $2.5 million fine in the case, which alleged that former Human Resources Manager Jose Humberto Gonzalez hired hundreds of illegal immigrants at the Laurel electrical transformer plant.
Gonzalez, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy in December 2009, will be sentenced Thursday.
According to the lawsuit filed Friday, Howard Industries is accused of denying employment to all “non-Latino” persons who applied between August 2000 and Aug. 25, 2008, during the time the illegal workers were brought into the company.
Court documents state that Gonzalez routinely hired illegal aliens and accepted false identity documents, including alien registration receipt cards and Social Security cards, despite the documents being invalid.
In the lawsuit, Yolanda Phelps and Seleatha McGee of Jones County, Veronica Cook of Jasper County and Charlyn Dozier of Erie County claim Howard Industries “devised, implemented, carried out, and controlled an employment policy whereby Latino job applicants, all or nearly all being undocumented Mexican immigrants, were given preferential treatment in hiring.”
The four women claim they all applied for employment at Howard Industries during the time frame and were not hired due to their race, despite passing all required tests. They say that they were eventually brought on after the immigration raid on Aug. 28, 2008, which found 592 undocumented workers at the Laurel transformer plant.
The lawsuit claims that one of the plaintiffs, Charlyn Dozier, applied for a job with Howard Industries every three to six months beginning in 2002, but wasn't offered a position until after the 2008 raid. In the days following the raid, hundreds of people lined up outside the plant to apply for positions.
Their attorney, Lisa M. Ross, said there's more to the case than just preferring illegal immigrants. She thinks the company was acting on racial stereotypes that Latinos work harder than blacks and whites and would put up with conditions that American workers may find objectionable.
“As a result of bringing in undocumented Latino workers, they were discriminating against blacks and whites,” she told the Associated Press.
They are suing for economic loss, humiliation, embarrassment, physical and emotional distress, and mental anguish.
Attempts to reach attorney Lisa Ross, who is representing the women in the case, were unsuccessful as of press time.
Howard Industries declined to comment on the lawsuit.
http://leadercall.com/local/x1771105387/Howard-Industries-facing-another-lawsuit
Lawsuit: Company sought to hire illegal immigrants
JACKSON, Miss.
A company that pleaded guilty to conspiracy related to the nation's largest workplace raid on illegal immigrants has been accused in a lawsuit of withholding jobs from U.S. citizens.
Immigration agents detained about 600 illegal immigrants at Howard Industries' plant in Laurel, Miss., in 2008. The company pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy to violate immigration laws. It was fined $2.5 million.
A lawsuit filed Friday claims the company's hiring practices gave preferential treatment to illegal immigrants.
Howard Industries did not comment on the lawsuit.
The company denied knowing that illegal immigrants worked at the plant, blaming the situation on its former personnel director. He was the only company executive charged. His sentencing is Thursday.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9LM0NS82.htm