Workers Protest Over Wages at Jessup Distribution Center

Workers protested outside Lancaster Foods in Jessup on Thursday, claiming they had not been paid for packaging produce, but employers said they were working to verify the contractors' employment.

“While we were packing food to be delivered to tables across Maryland, our families were frequently forced to go hungry because we were not paid,” said Adan Perez, who helped organize the protest, in a press release.

The press release, issued by Latino advocacy organization CASA de Maryland, said that Lancaster Foods paid the employees' wages to staffing company SS Staffing, which then went out of business.

"That is inaccurate," said Douglas Verner, general counsel for Lancaster Foods. "By all accounts, they seem to be in business...I had somebody go by [the staffing agency] and take pictures yesterday."

The attorney for SS Staffing verified that his client was still in business. "Yes, they are open," said Lloyd Lurie, legal counsel for SS Staffing.

Lancaster Foods, which packages produce for distribution to major supermarkets, stopped working with Staffing Specialists in May because it was concerned about its hiring practices, said Verner.

"From time to time, we were conducting audits to make sure their people were legally authorized to work, and occasionally they weren’t..." said Verner.

"We never employed those people directly," said Verner, but "we were just concerned about [the staffing agency's] operations."

SS Staffing said it has been working to get the employees paid but that verifying the identities of alleged workers has been difficult.

"We have been in dialogue for quite some time...attempting to resolve the claims," said Lurie. "Some of the names that they provided us do not coincide with identities of anybody we have on our payroll."

Continued Lurie, "That could be a function of spelling or hyphenated names. We believe also there are some people who may have attempted to jump on the bandwagon and claim they have performed services for us."

The claim by CASA de Maryland that SS Staffing has gone out of business, said Lurie, is false. He said that the Hyattsville office has closed but other locations remain open.

"My client wants to pay those who work for him—the right number and right person," said Lurie. "There's a lot of questionable claims out there."

Verner said that CASA de Maryland contacted him in August regarding workers' wages.

"They said, 'You should pay these people,'" stated Verner.

"We responded, 'We paid Staffing Specialists, which was supposed to pay them. How come you aren’t going after Staffing Specialists, which was the employer?'" said Verner.

"I never got a good answer," he said.