Workers sue W. Chicago cupmaker

Latino workers who say they were fired unjustly from a West Chicago factory because of assumptions about their legal status took their case to federal court today.

Workers Jose Correa, Mirian Paloma and Alfonso Zamudia filed suit against WinCup Corp. on behalf of more than 50 former employees -- all Latino -- from throughout DuPage and Kane counties.

The three named plaintiffs are all West Chicago residents. WinCup manufactures cups for restaurants that include McDonald's.

"I think this is very significant," said Chris Williams, the attorney representing the workers. "The company took inappropriate action by terminating people without notice."

The suit alleges the company violated the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, Act by failing to provide the 60 days notice of termination required by law.

The law mandates notification in the case of "mass layoffs," and the workers allege their situation falls in that category. The 50 workers amounted to a third of WinCup's West Chicago work force, the suit alleges.

The workers were let go from their jobs March 7. They said that they weren't given notice or a reason for the firing, and Delaware-based WinCup hasn't made a public comment since then.

Company officials couldn't be reached Thursday.

Williams believes WinCup took action against the employees based on assumptions about the legal status of the workers without proof of whether they are in the country legally.

The former employees marched in front of the company March 17 to demand copies of their personnel files. Those documents were handed over to Williams, who said they show WinCup didn't look into the workers' status.

There were no letters from immigration or Homeland Security officials in the files, Williams said.

"They had no reason to suspect them," he said.

The WARN Act draws no distinction between legal and illegal workers. The former employees seek restitution including back pay and attorney's fees.