Notices were mailed Thursday to workers at Pilgrim’s Pride, a chicken processing plant on Pryor Street, detailing their rights should they choose to join a lawsuit against the company seeking overtime pay, according to the plaintiffs’ attorneys.

“The notice advises workers about their rights and options in this suit in both English and Spanish,” said Deborah Schwartz with Media Relations Inc. in Bethesda, Md., publicist for by Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll PLLC, of Washington, D.C., the firm representing Pilgrim’s Pride workers. Workers also are advised they may join the suit regardless of immigration status.

The notice contains this description of the suit: “The Plaintiffs in this case claim that Pilgrim’s Pride does not pay its hourly chicken-processing workers for all the time they work putting on, taking off and cleaning safety and sanitary equipment, such as smocks, plastic aprons, ear plugs, safety glasses, hairnets, beard nets, plastic sleeve covers, arm guards, face masks, hard hats, rubber gloves, cotton liner gloves and metal cutting gloves. The Plaintiffs claim Pilgrim’s Pride has violated the Fair Labor Standards Act. Pilgrim’s Pride denies that it has violated the law in any respect.”

Ray Atkinson, director of Corporate Communications for Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., said he could not comment on specifics of pending litigation “as a matter of company policy.”

However, he said: “Pilgrim’s Pride seeks to comply with all federal laws concerning employment, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, and federal courts, including the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, have upheld the company’s pay practices. Pilgrim’s Pride believes that we did properly pay our employees, and we intend to show that in the lawsuit. We will have no further comment at this time.”

Workers leading the case and named as plaintiffs are Stephania Aaron, Alice Shepard, Dorothy Webb, Cynthia Rayborn, Erica Gresham, Freida Brown and Laronda Carruthers, Schwartz said. She did not know at which plants the named workers are employed.

She said 56,000 workers would be affected companywide.

Consent forms to join the suit, which were included in the notification, also can be found at the Web site for Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll at http://www.cmht.com/cases_pilgrimspride.php.

Pilgrim’s Pride workers with questions about the suit should call the toll-free hotline at (888) 816-4995 or send e-mail to overtime@cmht.com.  

According to Cohen Milstein’s Web site, the firm won a $10 million settlement for workers in a similar case against Perdue Farms. Perdue also agreed to pay its chicken-processing employees for time spent putting on and taking off their protective gear.

The Pilgrim’s Pride employees eligible to join the suit are those who are paid hourly and who worked on or near the processing line at any point beginning May 14, 2005, at plants in: Athens and Enterprise in Alabama; Batesville, Ark.; Clinton, Ark.; DeQueen, Ark.; El Dorado, Ark.; Athens, Ga.; Canton, Ga.; Dalton, Ga.; Elberton, Ga.; Gainesville, Ga.; Mayfield, Ky.; Farmerville, La.; Natchitoches, La.; Marshville, N.C.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Lufkin, Texas; Mt. Pleasant, Texas; Nacogdoches, Texas; Broadway, Va.; and Moorefield, W. Va.

Workers will not risk paying any fees by joining the suit, Schwartz said. The notice tells workers: “Regardless of whether or not you win the case, you will not be required to pay attorneys’ fees or costs out of your own pocket. The lawyers for the Plaintiffs will be paid only if the Plaintiffs win or Pilgrim’s Pride settles the case. If that happens, these fees will either be paid by Pilgrim’s Pride, or paid out of any settlement fund, or both, as the Court directs. Plaintiffs’ counsel will not ask the Court for more than one-third of your recovery. If there is no recovery, there will be no lawyers’ fee paid to the lawyers.”