A newly proposed amended complaint has been filed in a class action lawsuit against the meal kit delivery service HelloFresh and staffing agencies. Workers at a HelloFresh facility in Newark, New Jersey, claim they were verbally and physically abused, and denied regular bathroom breaks.
The lawsuit, initially filed in August 2024, alleges that HelloFresh and temporary staff managers subjected workers, primarily Hispanic, to physical and verbal abuse, sexually harassed Hispanic female employees, and discriminated against them. It is also claimed that managers threatened to call immigration authorities on workers and enforced a no-cellphone policy for Hispanic workers but not others.
One former worker, Luis Penafiel, stated he experienced incontinence issues due to being forced to hold urine for hours. The complaint alleges that Hispanic workers were required to use a sign-out system for bathroom breaks and that management policed the time spent, while non-Hispanic workers could use the bathroom freely.
HelloFresh has denied all allegations, stating that an internal investigation into claims dating from 2023 and prior found them to be "entirely without merit." The company previously filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in April 2025. Staffing agencies Action Staffing, On Target Staffing, and ProStaff Workforce Solutions have also moved to dismiss the lawsuit.
A New Jersey state court judge is scheduled to review the amended complaint in a hearing on 23 October.