Lawsuit Against Perdue To Be Heard In Md.
BALTIMORE (AP) -- A lawsuit accusing managers at Perdue Inc. of driving down wages by hiring illegal immigrants will now be heard in Maryland and not in Alabama.
The class-action lawsuit was filed a year ago on behalf of hourly workers at 16 Perdue plants in Maryland and nine other states.
A federal judge in Alabama has granted the defendants' request to move the case to Maryland. Perdue is headquartered in Salisbury.
The lawsuit does not name Perdue as a defendant. Instead, it claims supervisors at Perdue plants conspired to hire more than 500 undocumented immigrants over a four-year period.
The case will be heard in Baltimore by U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett. A trial date has not been set.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
