Former employees of a New England seafood company are claiming they were hired illegally, forced to work in unsafe conditions and given horrible hours at a young age.
A federal lawsuit filed by three former workers of Raw Seafoods in Fall River alleges that the plant not only employed them illegally when they were only 15 years old, but also forced them to work in unsafe conditions.
The owners of the company, which is one of the leading seafood suppliers for the states of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, "forced them to work through perilous overnight shifts, and subjected the Plaintiffs to coercion, psychological abuse, hazardous workplace conditions, and a discriminatory work environment," according to the lawsuit obtained by ABC6.
The plaintiffs, who are all immigrants from Guatemala, were employed at Raw Seafoods from July 2022 to January 2023. They reported that they were forced to work excessively long shifts, sometimes ending at 2 a.m. The subsequent lack of sleep they experienced affected their attendance at school.
The plaintiffs claim they endured racist insults and intimidation, alleging that their supervisors told them they would be unable to find other employment, and to continue working at Raw Seafoods to be able to send money to their families.
A single supervisor, identified as Rolando Doe, is accused of insulting the teens daily, being racist towards them and assigning them with dangerous laborious tasks.
"As a result, the defendants jeopardized plaintiffs' physical safety and undermined their dignity. The defendants' actions violated federal and state law and international human rights norms, giving the lie to their claims of social responsibility," the lawsuit states.
"I remember being so tired and afraid of saying anything," said one of the workers, only identified as S.S. "I had rashes all over my body all the time because of the work with the cleaning chemicals. In school, I couldn't write the next day because my hands were freezer-burned from work. They often shook, so I couldn't hold a pencil."
The Boston Herald reported that the plaintiffs were not available to be interviewed.
According to the lawsuit, Raw Seafoods violated various federal and state laws. The company claimed that they could not take action as the employees and supervisors that perpetrated these crimes were not named in the lawsuit.
"As a result, Raw Seafoods took steps to ensure that all of our future hires are in compliance with relevant employment laws and regulations," the company said in their statement.
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