The US Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao…
…has requested permission to depose 9 former Agriprocessors workers being held for deportation.
The Department of Labor told the court:
“The petitioner … is presently unable to bring the action [against Agriprocessors] because additional evidence from employees regarding hours they worked without pay is needed,” Andrea Christensen Luby, attorney for the agency, wrote in the motion filed Tuesday. “The payroll records of Agriprocessors, Inc. do not reflect all hours worked by the employees, and the testimony of employees is needed to establish the amount of back wages due the employees.”
If granted permission to interview the former employees, the agency plans to discuss their dates of employment; departments in which they worked; their unrecorded hours worked pre-shift, post-shift and pre- and post-lunch break; their wages paid; their job duties; the protective equipment and clothing needed to perform their duties; and the procedures and policies regarding obtaining, donning and doffing of the protective gear.
Because of an addition motion to expedite the court proceedings, [U.S. Magistrate Judge Jon Stuart] Scoles nearly immediately granted the telephone hearing between representatives from the Labor Department and Jeffry A. Meyer, a New York-based attorney representing Agriprocessors.…
The specially expedited telephone hearing is scheduled to take place tomorrow.