Articles Posted in North Pacific Seafoods

North Pacific Seafoods workers have been awarded a $440,000 settlement after being held for quarantine without pay in a Los Angeles hotel. Stacey and Jacobsen, PLLC first reported the details of this case on July 7th.

Each of the 165 workers who were quarantined is most likely eligible to collect approximately $2,685. That amount will be paid after each worker signs a release to drop further legal action against North Pacific Seafoods. After the workers have been paid, the parties will seek a dismissal.

The workers, who primarily reside in Mexico and Southern California, were hired to work at the North Pacific Seafoods Red Salmon Cannery in Bristol Bay, Alaska. The lawsuit maintained that workers were forced to quarantine in Los Angeles after three members of the team tested positive for COVID-19. North Pacific Seafoods provided no compensation during the quarantine. The lawsuit alleged false imprisonment, nonpayment of wages, failure to pay minimum wages and overtime, negligence, and unlawful business practices.

A lawsuit has been filed against North Pacific Seafoods after approximately 150 seasonal cannery workers were forced to quarantine without pay in a Los Angeles hotel. According to the complaint, all workers arrived at a hotel and were instructed to wait together in a crowded hallway to fill out paperwork. The workers reported that they were in close contact with one another for nearly six hours.

Workers were assigned to individual hotel rooms, then tested for the coronavirus. Three of the workers tested positive, and all workers were told they must quarantine until June 25th without pay. The complaint goes on to say that all workers were instructed not to leave their rooms or they would be immediately terminated.

The workers were hired on June 2, 2020, by North Pacific Seafoods to process seafood at the Red Salmon Cannery in Naknek, Alaska. Most of the workers are from Mexico or Southern California, while North Pacific Seafoods is based in Seattle, Washington. Each summer, the company hires hundreds of temporary seafood processors from around the world. Workers are promised round-trip transportation to and from their point of hire as well as lodging and meals.