A federal court in Iowa has denied a motion seeking to preliminarily enjoin the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from enforcing regulations prohibiting the interstate sale of raw milk. Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund v. Sebelius, No. 10-4018 (N.D. Iowa, decided January 23, 2012). The plaintiffs, who either produce or consume raw milk, filed their motion under the All Writs Act, claiming that FDA has taken enforcement actions against third parties in other jurisdictions while the plaintiffs’ lawsuit challenging the validity of the rules is pending and that such action usurps the court’s jurisdiction to decide whether the interstate sale of raw milk is legal. According to the court, “[t]he plaintiffs have not cited, and I have not found, any authority for the proposition that the first federal court to entertain a challenge to a federal regulation has the power to forestall enforcement of that regulation by a federal agency in other…
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Attorneys involved in the settlement of injury claims linked to Salmonella-contaminated eggs traced to Wright County Egg in Iowa have reportedly told the Associated Press that the first checks, issued by the egg producer’s insurer, are on their way to the first of dozens of individuals sickened during the 2010 outbreak. Among the first wave of legal settlements are six-figure checks issued on behalf of several children. Although most of the settlement’s terms are confidential, a federal judge in Iowa apparently approved deals in open court on November 10, 2011, totaling $366,000 for three children residing in California, Iowa and Texas. Because they were hospitalized, they are receiving higher amounts than those not as seriously stricken. See MSNBC. com, November 16, 2011.
Sholom Rubashkin, who managed a kosher meatpacking facility in Postville, Iowa, and was convicted on 86 counts related to financial fraud, lost the appeal of his conviction and the 324-month prison sentence imposed by a federal district court. United States v. Rubashkin, Nos. 10-2487/3580 (8th Cir., decided September 16, 2011). Additional details about the case appear in Issue 378 of this Update. Among other matters, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that evidence indicating that the trial court judge met with prosecutors before the facility was raided by immigration officials was insufficient to show bias against Rubashkin or that “the district court’s decision to remain on the case prejudiced Rubashkin’s verdict.” The court also found no fault in the trial court severing the bank fraud charges from the immigration law violations, which the government later dismissed, and trying the bank fraud charges first. According to the appeals court, “Given…
A federal court in Iowa has determined that 31 disabled men who worked at a turkey-processing plant were owed $1.7 million in back wages and liquidated damages by employers who compensated them at a rate of about $.41 per hour for years. Solis v. Hill Country Farms, Inc., No. 09-00162 (S.D. Iowa, Davenport Div., decided April 21, 2011). The recovery will compensate the workers for a three-year period. The two-year statute of limitations was extended for the defendants’ knowing and reckless disregard of federal minimum wage and overtime requirements because the Wage and Hour Division had previously investigated them for the same violations. The employees lived in a bunkhouse provided by the defendants, and their room and board expenses were deducted from their Social Security (SS) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. Those expenses, which were increased over time, were also deducted from their pay; their take home of $65…
Iowa Representative Annette Sweeney (R-Alden) has introduced a bill (H.F. 431) that would make it illegal to gain employment under false pretenses on farms or slaughterhouse processing facilities and then produce and distribute undercover videos. The Iowa Senate is reportedly expected to consider similar legislation. Defined in the bill as “animal facility interference,” shooting undercover videos at slaughterhouses would be considered anywhere from an aggravated misdemeanor up to a Class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and fined as much as $7,500. Similar penalties would apply to “animal facility fraud,” which would occur when a person is convicted of willfully obtaining “access to an animal facility by false pretenses for the purpose of committing an act not authorized by the owner of the animal facility” or “makes a false statement or representation as part of an application to be employed at the animal facility, if the…
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) have reportedly filed amicus briefs with the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, supporting the efforts of counsel for Sholom Rubashkin to overturn his conviction and sentence for financial fraud at his Iowa meat processing facility. The kosher plant was raided in 2008, 389 undocumented workers were arrested, and Rubashkin was initially charged with violating immigration laws. These charges were ultimately dropped, and a jury acquitted him of hiring underage workers. Prosecutors then aggressively pursued charges that he falsified bank records to inflate sales and diverted customer payments for personal use, and he was found guilty on 86 counts in November 2009. The court sentenced Rubashkin to 27 years in prison, a term longer than recommended by prosecutors. While the ACLU and NACDL reportedly focus their briefs on accusations that the sentencing court improperly cooperated with prosecutors…
Lawyers for Sholom Rubashkin, who was recently sentenced to 27 years in prison for financial fraud discovered in connection with a kosher meatpacking plant in the aftermath of a 2008 raid to find illegal immigrants, have alleged trial-court improprieties in their request for a new trial. U.S. v. Rubashkin, No. 08-1324 (N.D. Iowa, filed August 5, 2010). According to Rubashkin’s motion, the federal district court occupied temporary space near the plant so that the 300-plus undocumented workers arrested in the raid could be processed the following day. This raised the issue of Judge Linda Reade’s prior involvement with prosecutors. “Indeed, Chief District Judge Linda Reade stated in September 2008 in a written opinion that she engaged in purportedly limited ‘logistical cooperation’ with law-enforcement authorities in order to provide attorneys and interpreters for the arrested aliens and to conduct their trials in Waterloo.” To the contrary, Rubashkin claims, eight months after…
The former manager of an Iowa-based kosher meatpacking plant that was raided by immigration authorities in 2008 has reportedly been sentenced to 27 years for financial fraud and ordered to pay $27 million in restitution. While the initial case against Sholom Rubashkin involved the hiring of hundreds of illegal immigrant workers, prosecutors apparently changed their focus to his alleged mishandling of loans that led to bank losses of $26 million. The presiding federal judge reportedly released a 52-page memorandum in advance of the sentencing hearing to explain her decision. The sentence, two years longer than requested by prosecutors, has generated controversy given the relatively lighter sentences meted out to corporate officials responsible for greater frauds in recent years. Six former U.S. attorneys general submitted a letter to the judge supporting a lighter prison term. Rubashkin’s lawyers have indicated that they will appeal the sentence. See The New York Times, June…
Some two years after a raid on a Postville, Iowa, kosher slaughterhouse for the employment of hundreds of illegal immigrants, charges of child-labor law violations are apparently about to be tried in state court against former executive Sholom Rubashkin. Prosecutors reportedly dropped many related charges against other individuals on the eve of trial. Rubashkin, who was also charged with bank, mail and wire fraud and violations of the Packers & Stockyards Act, appeared at a federal court sentencing hearing in late April 2010, facing a potential life sentence in prison. According to news sources, the court will hand down a sentencing order sometime in May; a number of former U.S. attorneys general and U.S. attorneys submitted a letter to the court to express concern about the imposition of a life sentence on a first-time, non-violent offender. See National Law Journal and The Blog of Legal Times, April 26, 2010; Feedstuffs.com,…
The Iowa Supreme Court has awarded disability benefits to a former slaughterhouse worker who allegedly contracted brucellosis from butchering hogs. IBP, Inc. v. Burress, No. 07-1887 (Iowa, decided July 10, 2009). The court determined that the disease was caused by a traumatic event and thus was a compensable injury under state law. So ruling, the court affirmed an intermediate appellate court decision rejecting a district court’s determination that the claimant had an occupational disease and failed to timely file his workers’ compensation petition. The court discusses in some detail how the claimant came into contact with Brucella organisms through open cuts while exposed to hog blood during his 10-year tenure at IBP, Inc.’s meat-packing plant. He allegedly developed a chronic infection of the hips and bone as a result of his contact with blood products and tissue from slaughtered hogs, but was not apparently diagnosed with the disease until some six years…
