Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
A former employee of an egg production facility claims she was unlawfully terminated for failing to take part in alleged illegal activities and is asking that a court award an unspecified amount in damages.
Debbie J. Goble claims in a lawsuit filed recently in Kosciusko Circuit Court that she left her job at EIPC LLC/Egg Innovations as a result of a retaliatory discharge after she refused to improperly tag products and barns, refused to commit waste violations and keep birds in polluted conditions and protested against using unsafe and worn out equipment. She also alleges the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by refusing to pay her overtime for hours spent performing nonexempt duties.
Egg Innovations is located locally on West CR 100N, Warsaw, and is headquartered in Port Washington, Wis. Telephone calls seeking comment from the company's president, John Brunnquell, were not returned. Brunnquell works at the Warsaw location.
Goble was employed with the business from spring 1999 through May 28, 2002, and worked about 10 years at that location for the company's predecessor.
According to the lawsuit, Goble alleges her "constructive discharge" was brought about after she refused to:
• tag products as "organic" when they were really "non-organic,"
• change tags on barns regarding the crating and labeling of caged birds as cage-free birds,
• "go along with" waste violations and the pollution of local rivers,
• engage in the unlawful disposal of dead birds,
• participate in FLSA violations regarding minimum/fair wages paid to employees of Egg Innovations and
• engage in other illegal activities that could have caused her to incur personal liability or criminal responsibility.
According to information on Egg Innovations' Web site, the company expanded its product line to include cage-free, organic and vegetarian eggs in 1996 and purchased the farm in Indiana in 2000 to increase production. Cage-free hens don't live in cages and have community nests in which to lay their eggs. The company's organic eggs are produced from free-roaming hens that are fed grains without chemicals, hormones or antibiotics, according to the Web site.
The company has been in existence, through various name changes, since 1917.
Also in her lawsuit, Goble claims that her protests against having to use unsafe and worn out equipment and working endless hours without getting paid contributed to her alleged wrongful termination.
Also, while employed by Egg Innovations, Goble was injured and taken to Kosciusko Community Hospital, Warsaw, after reportedly passing out as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. In addition to her refusal to participate in alleged illegal activities, Goble claims pressure was put on her when she inquired about getting her medical bills paid.
Prior to her termination, Goble was demoted from plant supervisor to "bar labor," which included working with dead chickens, chicken droppings and chicken waste. She claims she was requested to falsely report the demise of a greater number of chickens and eggs than actual loss so as to fraudulently report insurance claims, but she refused, telling her employers that she "was not going to go to jail for anyone and was not going to go to jail for the sake of keeping her job."
Shortly thereafter, Goble resigned from her job with Egg Innovations.
Goble claims her discharge resulted not only in the lost of her job and job-related benefits, including income, but also cause her to suffer emotional distress, mental anguish, embarrassment, humiliation, inconvenience and other damages and injuries.
She is seeking compensatory, liquidated and punitive damages, plus attorney fees and the costs of her FLSA claim. Goble requests a trial by jury.
The attorney representing Goble is Christopher C. Myers of Fort Wayne.
