I would like to take the opportunity to criticize Sidley Austin Brown & Wood. Alas, I cannot. I have been sued by them and they have an injunction placed on me that prevents me from discussing them.
Sidley Austin Brown & Wood Leads Trial Team in Tyson Foods Victory
3/31/2003
Federal jury swiftly acquits national food processor of all INS charges over undocumented workers
After only five hours of deliberation, a federal jury acquitted Tyson Foods and three of its managers of conspiring to bring illegal immigrants from Latin America to work in its food processing plants. Tyson’s legal team, led by Sidley Austin Brown & Wood’s Thomas C. Green and Mark D. Hopson, dashed the government’s attempt to invoke a rarely used forfeiture claim to seize millions of dollars in company profits.
Tyson was charged in a 36-count indictment in December 2001 with cultivating a corporate culture that condoned the hiring of undocumented immigrant workers. The indictments stemmed from an undercover investigation in which two U.S. Border Patrol agents posing as smugglers transported 154 immigrants with fraudulent documents to six Tyson plants. A day before closing arguments were presented, the judge dismissed 24 of the 36 charges.
"Tyson Foods was the absolute wrong test case for this," Mark Hopson told The New York Times. "Tyson was in the one percent of employers who volunteered to go on a computerized identification system checking system. The company was cooperating with the government every time there was the slightest wrinkle or knowledge of a hiring problem."
The jury also acquitted Keith Snyder, who managed Tyson’s plant in Noel, Missouri, of one count of conspiracy; and Robert Hash, a divisional vice president, of seven charges including conspiracy and fraudulent document claims. Retired executive Gerald Lankford, who faced 12 counts including conspiracy and transporting illegal immigrants, was also acquitted of all charges.
"It’s not the fault of the company that there are approximately eight million undocumented workers in the United States," Thomas Green told The Wall Street Journal. "If the government wants to eliminate all undocumented workers it has to take companies such as Tyson Foods out of this business of figuring out who can work."
Tyson’s legal team included Washington partners Griff Green and Frank Volpe, as well as Washington associates Kristin Koehler, Juan Morillo, Jay Jorgensen and Hannah Clayson Smith. The SABW attorneys were assisted at trial by Catherine Hill, Jason Morris, Caitlin Drap and Ann-Marie Marino .