{"id":12332,"date":"2025-04-14T21:54:41","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T21:54:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/eagle-grove-eagle\/?p=12332"},"modified":"2025-04-15T09:59:54","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T09:59:54","slug":"centrum-responds-to-abuse-allegations-denies-claims-made-by-former-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/eagle-grove-eagle\/2025\/04\/14\/centrum-responds-to-abuse-allegations-denies-claims-made-by-former-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Centrum Responds to Abuse Allegations, Denies Claims Made by Former Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>But company refuses to answer many questions.<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12337\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12337\" style=\"width: 604px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12337 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/eagle-grove-eagle\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/04\/centrum-filing-shotgun-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"604\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/eagle-grove-eagle\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/04\/centrum-filing-shotgun-1.jpg 604w, https:\/\/midamerica.news\/eagle-grove-eagle\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/04\/centrum-filing-shotgun-1-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/midamerica.news\/eagle-grove-eagle\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/04\/centrum-filing-shotgun-1-600x447.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 604px) 100vw, 604px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12337\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photo of a gun presented in the lawsuit, which plaintiffs alleged was used to terrorize them, actually depicts a BB gun used during a &#8220;USDA-coordinated pest control effort&#8221; regarding the bird flu, the company claims. (Photo from court filing.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By Edward Lynn<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Editor<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CLARION, Iowa \u2014 Following a federal lawsuit accusing Centrum Valley Farms of human trafficking, workplace discrimination, and retaliation, the company has issued a formal response denying the claims and expressing confidence in its management team, also saying &#8220;we expect to vigorously defend this case.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa by six Guatemalan former employees, alleges that a Centrum supervisor, Jose Cornejo, used racial slurs, threatened deportation, and even brandished a gun to intimidate workers. Plaintiffs claim they faced harassment, unpaid overtime, and unsafe working conditions while employed at the company&#8217;s Clarion facility.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Centrum, a subsidiary of Versova Holdings, LLP, initially did not respond to media inquiries. But Hinda Mitchell of the Inspire PR Group later contacted The Eagle, claiming, &#8220;the phone lines apparently were out&#8221; as the reason no one answered when the Eagle called previously. A follow-up question about the company&#8217;s phone service was not answered.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Caring for our team and providing a safe work environment are always our priorities,&#8221; Mitchell wrote on behalf of Centrum. &#8220;We treat every individual on our team with respect at all times.&#8221; But Mitchell declined to respond to questions about whether that statement referred to the alleged actions by managers, or the act of making the claims by workers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Plaintiff Kenny Augusto Tetzaguic Lux, who worked at the facility from 2016 until his termination in 2024, alleges he was fired in retaliation for raising concerns. The company cited a violation of &#8220;Guiding Principles and\/or Core Values&#8221; in his termination notice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The company denied the allegations made in the suit, stating that related complaints were investigated at the time, with some deemed unfounded and others unverified.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Questions about the use of assumed names in hiring to skirt immigration laws, and Cornejo\u2019s immigration status also went unanswered. However Mitchel did respond to say that &#8220;all Centrum Valley Farms team members are E-Verified as eligible to work.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In response to one allegation seemingly backed up by photographic evidence \u2014 that a manager brought a firearm to the facility \u2014 the company claims the item in question was a BB gun, used during a USDA-coordinated pest control effort related to the avian influenza outbreak. The plaintiffs allege it was used to intimidate them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Centrum has not directly addressed several other follow-up questions posed by The Eagle, including inquiries about internal disciplinary actions, and whether any of the accused managers remain employed, and if any had been promoted or demoted. However, Mitchell had said in her initial email that, &#8220;We have the highest confidence in our leaders at Centrum Valley Farms and trust that this situation was managed both fairly and appropriately.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Eagle also asked whether plaintiff Kenny Lux\u2019s reprimand for \u201cinsubordination\u201d was connected to his prior complaint about supervisor Jose Cornejo, and whether that disciplinary action was reviewed internally. Additional questions included details about which specific complaints were investigated, who conducted those investigations, and what standards were used to deem them unfounded. Those questions went unanswered.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Eagle further requested information about what protective gear is provided to workers handling pesticides. Mitchell didn&#8217;t answer that question directly, but did\u00a0 comment on Centrum&#8217;s behalf that &#8220;our farm follows the regulatory guidance of and complies with all state and federal requirements of OSHA, FDA, USDA and other government agencies.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Eagle continues to seek answers to detailed questions submitted to the company. The lawsuit remains pending.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>But company refuses to answer many questions. By Edward Lynn Editor CLARION, Iowa \u2014 Following a federal lawsuit accusing Centrum Valley Farms of human trafficking, workplace discrimination, and retaliation, the company has issued a formal response denying the claims and expressing confidence in its management team, also saying &#8220;we expect<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18191,"featured_media":12337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,7654],"tags":[10291,10316,10312,10311,10292,10305,10295,10309,10317,10323,10294,10324,10302,6914,10307,5173,9135,10306,10314,10315,10318,10308,10296,10298,10322,10325,10313,10320,10310,10319,10300,10321,9023,10299,9459,10301,10297,10303,10304,3902,10293],"class_list":["post-12332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ia-news","category-news","tag-federal-lawsuit","tag-accused-managers","tag-avian-influenza-outbreak","tag-bb-gun","tag-centrum-valley-farms","tag-clarion-facility","tag-denying-claims","tag-e-verified","tag-employment-status","tag-fda","tag-formal-response","tag-government-compliance","tag-gun-intimidation","tag-harassment","tag-hinda-mitchell","tag-humantrafficking","tag-immigration-laws","tag-inspire-pr-group","tag-insubordination","tag-internal-disciplinary-actions","tag-investigation-standards","tag-kenny-augusto-tetzaguic-lux","tag-management-team","tag-northern-district-of-iowa","tag-osha","tag-pending-lawsuit","tag-pest-control","tag-pesticide-handling","tag-photographic-evidence","tag-protective-gear","tag-racial-slurs","tag-regulatory-guidance","tag-retaliation","tag-six-guatemalan-former-employees","tag-termination","tag-threatened-deportation","tag-u-s-district-court","tag-unpaid-overtime","tag-unsafe-working-conditions","tag-usda","tag-workplace-discrimination",""],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Centrum Responds to Abuse Allegations, Denies Claims Made by Former Workers - Eagle Grove Eagle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/eagle-grove-eagle\/2025\/04\/14\/centrum-responds-to-abuse-allegations-denies-claims-made-by-former-workers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Centrum Responds to Abuse Allegations, Denies Claims Made by Former Workers - Eagle Grove Eagle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"But company refuses to answer many questions. By Edward Lynn Editor CLARION, Iowa \u2014 Following a federal lawsuit accusing Centrum Valley Farms of human trafficking, workplace discrimination, and retaliation, the company has issued a formal response denying the claims and expressing confidence in its management team, also saying &#8220;we expect\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/eagle-grove-eagle\/2025\/04\/14\/centrum-responds-to-abuse-allegations-denies-claims-made-by-former-workers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eagle Grove Eagle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-14T21:54:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-15T09:59:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/eagle-grove-eagle\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/04\/centrum-filing-shotgun-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"604\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"info\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"info\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/eagle-grove-eagle\/2025\/04\/14\/centrum-responds-to-abuse-allegations-denies-claims-made-by-former-workers\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/eagle-grove-eagle\/2025\/04\/14\/centrum-responds-to-abuse-allegations-denies-claims-made-by-former-workers\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"info\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/eagle-grove-eagle\/#\/schema\/person\/8e7340cc426793e8417b768bfe4801b7\"},\"headline\":\"Centrum Responds to Abuse Allegations, Denies Claims Made by Former Workers\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-14T21:54:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-15T09:59:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/eagle-grove-eagle\/2025\/04\/14\/centrum-responds-to-abuse-allegations-denies-claims-made-by-former-workers\/\"},\"wordCount\":638,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/eagle-grove-eagle\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/eagle-grove-eagle\/2025\/04\/14\/centrum-responds-to-abuse-allegations-denies-claims-made-by-former-workers\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/eagle-grove-eagle\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/04\/centrum-filing-shotgun-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"- federal lawsuit\",\"accused managers\",\"avian influenza outbreak\",\"BB gun\",\"Centrum Valley Farms\",\"Clarion facility\",\"denying claims\",\"E-Verified\",\"employment status\",\"FDA\",\"formal response\",\"government compliance\",\"gun intimidation\",\"Harassment\",\"Hinda Mitchell\",\"human trafficking\",\"immigration laws\",\"Inspire PR Group\",\"insubordination\",\"internal disciplinary actions\",\"investigation standards\",\"Kenny Augusto Tetzaguic Lux\",\"management team\",\"Northern District of Iowa\",\"OSHA\",\"pending lawsuit.\",\"pest control\",\"pesticide handling\",\"photographic evidence\",\"protective gear\",\"racial slurs\",\"regulatory guidance\",\"retaliation\",\"six Guatemalan former employees\",\"termination\",\"threatened deportation\",\"U.S. District Court\",\"unpaid overtime\",\"unsafe working conditions\",\"USDA\",\"workplace discrimination\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Iowa News\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/eagle-grove-eagle\/2025\/04\/14\/centrum-responds-to-abuse-allegations-denies-claims-made-by-former-workers\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/eagle-grove-eagle\/2025\/04\/14\/centrum-responds-to-abuse-allegations-denies-claims-made-by-former-workers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/eagle-grove-eagle\/2025\/04\/14\/centrum-responds-to-abuse-allegations-denies-claims-made-by-former-workers\/\",\"name\":\"Centrum Responds to Abuse Allegations, Denies Claims Made by Former Workers - 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