Legal aid groups filed a lawsuit this week on behalf of three migrant teenagers who allegedly worked at a seafood processing plant in Fall River, Massachusetts, that supplies some of the region’s biggest supermarket chains.
The minors, who are not identified by name in the complaint, allegedly began working at Raw Seafoods’ processing plant in the Fall River Industrial Park when they were 15 years old. All three have since left the company.
The federal lawsuit, filed jointly on Tuesday by Justice At Work and Yale Law School’s Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic, claims as many as 10 underage migrants worked at Raw Seafoods in 2022. The plaintiffs estimate the company employs about 350 people.
Raw Seafoods sells fresh and prepared seafood that winds up in the fish counters and frozen food aisles of many major supermarket chains. One of Raw Seafoods’ brands lists Whole Foods, Costco, Target, Shaw’s, Star Market and The Fresh Market on a webpage advertising where to find their products. The companies did not immediately respond to questions on Sept. 24.
Much of that seafood is sorted and cut with heavy machinery at Raw Seafoods’ plant in Fall River, which the lawsuit claims is sometimes operated by teenagers working late-night shifts more than five nights a week.
Federal law prohibits 14- and 15-year-olds from working in any manufacturing setting, including seafood processing. In Massachusetts, state law prohibits 15-year-olds from working past 9 p.m. The lawsuit claims the three teenage plaintiffs typically worked from the afternoon until around 2 a.m., leaving them less than four hours to sleep before school began.
Attorneys for the teenagers claim they were promised safer jobs packing boxes, but often wound up operating and cleaning heavy machinery. The teenagers allegedly kept working to financially support family members in Guatemala. Two of the teenagers came across the border unaccompanied by parents or relatives, according to the complaint.
A spokesman for Raw Seafoods provided a statement saying the company previously employed a group of underage workers who used false documents to lie about their ages. The statement characterized Raw Seafoods as a “victim” of “document fraud.”
“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 a statement.
The statement said the company doesn’t have enough information to take further action on this specific case yet, citing the lack of any specifically named employees or supervisors.
Many of the allegations in the lawsuit concern a single supervisor, who is identified by his first name only, Rolando. The complaint said the three plaintiffs communicated with the supervisor frequently about needing time off to attend high school or prepare for their classes.
The supervisor allegedly “reprimanded and scolded” the plaintiffs when they missed work to attend school or prioritize coursework, the complaint said.
Two of the plaintiffs had enrolled in ninth grade shortly after they were hired, according to the complaint. The third allegedly needed time off from work to attend a scheduled vaccine appointment so he could enroll in school. The lawsuit claims that “Rolando” denied this request, causing him to miss the entire school year.
Accusations of young people — often immigrants from Central America — illegally working in Massachusetts’ seafood processing industry are not uncommon. Last year, an investigation by The Public’s Radio uncovered dozens of migrant children working in seafood processing plants in New Bedford. The Public’s Radio also revealed that the U.S. Department of Labor was investigating South Coast seafood businesses and temporary-employment agencies that provide staff to them.
Jordan Cozby, a Yale Law student working with the school’s Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic, said the teenagers wanted to publicize their allegations through a lawsuit “so that the public would know,” and “so that other children who might be in similar circumstances would know and can seek help in a variety of ways.”
Additionally, the lawsuit seeks financial compensation on behalf of the teenagers for various labor violations, including exposure to potentially hazardous work conditions.
