AUBURN — A Wilton man is suing a Turner egg farm, claiming the company illegally gave preferential treatment to Hispanic workers.

Frank Williams, 47, has filed a complaint against Quality Egg of New England and M.E. A.G. Associates in Androscoggin County Superior Court.

In his lawsuit, Williams said he worked at the farm at 272 Plains Road in Turner for about two years before he was promoted to crew foreman in 2008. He was let go in 2010 after he was told the company didn’t have enough work for him.

About a week before he was laid off, he had arrived about 10 minutes late for work one morning because his ride was late due to vehicle problems. He was sent home for being late. Two days later, one of the crews of Mexican workers arrived at work about 10 minutes late and was not sent home, according to the lawsuit.

Two days after he was sent home for tardiness, he was demoted from crew foreman to crew worker and his hourly pay was cut from $8.75 to $7.50, the suit says.

“Mr. Williams had done nothing to justify the demotion,” the complaint says. “To the contrary, he had at all times performed his responsibilities as a crew foreman in an exemplary manner.”

His crew foreman position, the suit says, was, “not surprisingly,” given to a Hispanic worker from Honduras.

“Throughout his employment, Mr. Williams observed that Hispanic employees from Mexico were treated more favorably than the company’s Caucasian employees who were born in the United States,” the suit says.

Roughly two weeks before his termination, Williams was told that if his crew were to take a break, “it would be their last ever.” In contrast, Mexican workers were allowed to take all scheduled breaks during that day, the suit says.

Before leaving, Williams and other American workers at the farm had been “subjected to a drastic reduction in work hours while Mexican workers were permitted to continue working full-time,” the suit says.

After he left the company, he was replaced by a Hispanic worker, according to the complaint.

Williams is seeking damages from Quality Egg and M.E. A.G. Associates of Farmington for what he suffered, including back pay, front pay, emotional distress and attorney’s fees.

Williams had filed a complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission, which was closed a year ago. He was issued a “right to sue” letter, but no report was issued by the agency in the matter, an agency spokeswoman said Tuesday.

A call to Quality Egg was not returned Tuesday.

cwilliams@sunjournal.com

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