NeilMed workers protest treatment

<p>Latino workers who quit their jobs at NeilMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Santa Rosa after a recent probe by federal immigration officials gathered at a city park Thursday to assert that NeilMed hired them knowing they did not have the proper documents to work legally in the country.</p><p>Workers claimed that for years NeilMed took advantage of their status as illegal workers by giving them burdensome tasks, discouraging breaks during production cycles, failing to fully pay overtime and not providing proper compensation to injured workers.</p><p>Nina Mehta, NeilMed CEO, declined to comment about the mass resignations that took place at the plant on Feb. 13, but the Los Angeles attorney representing the company said the charges were "completely untrue."</p><p>"It is tragic that these employees feel so bitter about their departure from NeilMed," attorney Josie Gonzalez said in an e-mail statement. "NeilMed has always treated them in a humane, compassionate manner."</p><p>Gonzalez said the company welcomes any in-depth governmental investigation of its employment practices.</p><p>The U.S Department of Labor said Thursday that it has begun an investigation into the allegations to determine whether there were violations of federal wage and hour laws.</p><p>On Feb. 13, about 175 Latino workers at NeilMed signed resignation forms after they were told they didn't have proper documents to legally work in the United States. Workers said Thursday that many other of their co-workers refused to sign resignation letters and simply did not show up for work after Feb. 13.</p><p>Most of the employees worked in the warehouse, packing and shipping departments of the fast-growing company that makes sinus rinses and associated products.</p><p>"They knew we didn't have the proper papers to work there," said a 28-year-old employee who gathered with several dozen other former employees at Finley Park. The worker, who asked that her name not be used because she feared repercussions for being in the country illegally, said she and other workers never were asked about the work documents they presented even though they were obviously false.</p><p>Gonzalez, the attorney representing the company, said last week that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents showed up Feb. 10 at NeilMed to examine employee records. ICE, which routinely audits companies to ensure workers have the legal right to work in the United States, would not confirm whether it had inspected the company's employee records Feb. 10.</p><p>The gathering at Finley Park Thursday by former NeilMed employees was the first time workers publicly recounted their stories. The gathering was organized by an immigrant rights activist from San Francisco who is working with Southern California-based Hermandad General de Trabajadores.</p><p>The group, which has taken up the cause of the workers, said its investigating whether any of their labor rights were violated.</p><p>Deanne Amaden, a federal Labor Department spokeswoman in San Francisco, said illegal immigrants cannot work in the country and are subject to deportation. But she said illegal immigrants are entitled to be paid according to the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act, if the employer is subject to that law.</p><p>Amaden, who would not comment on what is now an open investigation, said limiting such rights to those workers who are U.S. citizens and legal immigrants would give unscrupulous employers the incentive to hire more illegal immigrants and abuse them in the workplace.</p><p>"Federal labor laws are not limited by a person's immigration status," said Amaden.</p><p>At Finley Park, about 50 people gathered at the gazebo. There were young adults, parents and children sitting on picnic benches, but this was no routine park outing.</p><p>Those who said they had been pressured to quit -- a claim the company rejects -- said they don't know what they are going to do now that they've lost their jobs. Most of the workers were paid from $8.50 to $13 an hour.</p><p>"There were a lot of us who were let go that day," said one female employee. "They used us until they no longer needed us. They got the most out of us and then they got rid of us."</p><p>Erika Monterroza, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Industrial Relations, said California is an "at will" state and that people can get fired for any reason as long as its not an act of retaliation or discrimination.</p><p>Gonzalez, the company attorney, said NeilMed has always treated its employees in a humane, compassionate manner.</p><p>"NeilMed hopes that there are changes in Congress under the new administration that will enable them in the future to work legally in the United States," said Gonzalez.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com.</p>