Employees at a HelloFresh distribution facility in Newark, New Jersey, have detailed allegations in court filings describing verbal and physical abuse alongside restricted restroom breaks, with one former employee reporting subsequent medical issues.

The proposed amended complaint expands upon a class action lawsuit initially launched in August 2024 against the meal kit enterprise and several associated staffing firms. A New Jersey state court judge is scheduled to evaluate the revised complaint during an October 23 hearing.

Within the civil complaint, workers contend that management from HelloFresh and the temp agencies confiscated mandatory identification badges needed to exit the building, repeatedly threatened employees with calls to immigration enforcement, inflicted physical and verbal misconduct, sexually harassed Hispanic female staff, and targeted the predominantly Hispanic temporary workforce in breach of state anti-discrimination statutes.

A company representative rejected all claims made within the litigation.

Upon learning of these allegations, which date from 2023 and years prior, we conducted a thorough internal investigation and found these claims to be entirely without merit. We vehemently denied these allegations when this lawsuit was filed over two years ago, and we continue to vehemently deny them today, the spokesperson stated via email.

During an April 2025 motion to dismiss, the subscription meal provider formally contested the accusations.

Action Staffing, On Target Staffing, and ProStaff Workforce Solutions did not reply to inquiries seeking comment, though they have likewise sought to dismiss the case.

The filing asserts that HelloFresh assigned the most demanding tasks to Hispanic employees, while supervisors allegedly directed racist commentary at workers and reprimanded them for speaking Spanish. Furthermore, the suit claims management enforced a mobile phone prohibition specifically for Hispanic staff members while exempting others.

Luis Penafiel, who worked as a temp employee at the Newark center from November 2021 through August 2023 and serves as a plaintiff, stated that the work environment degraded shortly following his arrival.

We started to realize that because we were Latinos, we were being forced to do all these kinds of duties. We started noting the discrimination, he noted.

We were afraid of punishment for complaining, Penafiel added. We want the authorities to listen to us and to realize the conditions that people are working under at these places.

The lawsuit asserts that Hispanic personnel were forced to utilize a sign-out protocol for restroom visits while supervisors monitored their time away from the production line.

There were many times I had to hold it for hours because they would note down the time you went in, according to Penafiel. I had to go to the clinic to a urologist because I started experiencing incontinence, as I had to hold it for a long time and ended up getting infections.

The legal action states that non-Hispanic workers faced no such restrictions regarding restroom duration or frequency, and that temporary staff were routinely expected to cover production duties for direct hires during extended breaks.

On several occasions, a HelloFresh manager menaced Hispanic workers with a baseball bat to limit their time in the bathroom and force them to return to work on HelloFresh’s production line, the complaint details. HelloFresh’s bathroom policy was so restrictive that several Hispanic workers were forced to urinate on themselves and continue to work because their supervisors denied them permission to use the bathroom.

The filing further notes that defendants’ bathroom policies were so restrictive that at least one member of the Hispanic Employee Class brought multiple pairs of underwear and fresh clothes to work because she was forced to urinate on herself on several occasions.

Additional allegations in the complaint include supervisors groping female employees, displaying pornography and explicit photographs, utilizing food items such as bread loaves and cucumbers to mimic sexual acts, and frequently soliciting female workers for sexual favors.

HelloFresh supervisors physically assaulted and battered several Hispanic employees during their employment at HelloFresh, the lawsuit maintains, suggesting the attacks occurred in front of peers to generate intimidation and ensure compliance.

According to the text, these physical altercations involved managers physically beating workers, putting their hands around workers’ necks, and screaming in workers’ ears. The action also asserts that injured workers were refused medical care.

When people would raise complaints about what they were suffering, what supervisors were doing, they were bounced back and forth between HelloFresh and the staffing agencies.