Source: Lisa Keefe, Meatingplace.com, March 23

A federal class action lawsuit against managers and supervisors of Perdue Inc. is moving to a Maryland court, where the chicken company is based, according to court papers.

The lawsuit, filed a year ago in Alabama, is not filed against the company itself. The suit charges that Perdue managers conspired to depress wages by hiring undocumented workers. The plaintiffs specifically allege misdeeds on the part of former and current human resource employees and supervisors, and was filed on behalf of hourly workers at 16 Perdue plants in Maryland and nine other states, according to court records.

A U.S. District Court judge in Alabama granted the defendants' request to move the case, noting that the new venue lowers costs and improves geographic access to records as the case moves forward. The company is based in Salisbury, Md.

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