5 indicted on charges stemming from Ralphs hiring during labor dispute
Former and current executives of the supermarket chain are accused of conspiring to rehire locked-out workers during the 2003-04 dispute to undermine the efforts of the grocery workers union.
A federal grand jury has indicted five former and current Ralphs Grocery Co. executives on 23 counts arising from when the supermarket chain illegally rehired locked-out workers during the bitter Southern California supermarket labor dispute of five years ago.
The charges against the executives come from the company's secret rehiring of about 1,000 locked-out workers during the 141-day dispute.
The indictment said the five, along with unnamed co-conspirators "engaged in a course of criminal conduct" that included hiring "employees under false names, social security numbers and documentation, which was intended to, and did, undermine the labor action" by reducing the financial pressure on the grocery chains to reach a settlement.
Ralphs has already pleaded guilty to similar charges and has paid out $70 million in fines and restitution. After the indictments were announced, the company said that it was cooperating with the U.S. attorney's office and noted that the latest developments did not change the terms of its plea agreement made in 2006.
"Ralphs is working very hard to put this difficult chapter in our company history behind us and to win back the trust of our customers and associates and build our business," said Terry O'Neil, spokesman for the Compton-based supermarket company.
None of those indicted could be reached for comments this morning.
This latest indictment, which was issued late Thursday and made public today, said that the employees were sent to stores where they didn't normally work to avoid being recognized by customers and picketing colleagues. The alleged scheme also included the underreporting of hours worked to the administrator of the joint employer-union benefits fund as a way to save expenses for the grocery chain.
The indicted executives even circulated copies of a confidential strike manual that outlined the "not knowingly hire" strategy of attracting experienced workers that store managers "could plausibly deny knowing" were actually locked-out employees, according to the indictment. Some of the employees were allegedly hired to work under the names and Social Security numbers of other members of their families.
The indicted executives are Scott Drew, 47, of Carmel, Ind., now a vice president of Ralphs' parent company, Kroger Co.; former Ralphs Vice President Patrick McGowan, 49, of Menifee in Riverside County; Charles Vance, 56, of Norco, a former Ralphs zone manager; Randall Kruska, 55, of Leucadia, Calif., a former Ralphs zone manager; and Karen Montoya, 48, of Peoria, Ariz., a former Ralphs district manager.
