HelloFresh Faces Amended Lawsuit Alleging Abuse and Denied Bathroom Breaks
Newark facility workers say they faced threats, discrimination and restricted bathroom access, while the meal kit company calls the claims without merit
By AXY Business Desk ·
Key points
- Workers at HelloFresh’s Newark, New Jersey facility allege verbal and physical abuse, denied bathroom breaks and threats to involve immigration authorities in a proposed amended class action complaint.
- HelloFresh says its internal investigation found the claims “entirely without merit,” and has moved to dismiss the case, along with the named staffing agencies.
- A New Jersey state court judge is expected to review the amended complaint at a hearing scheduled for 23 October.
Workers at a HelloFresh facility in Newark, New Jersey have alleged in court documents that they were verbally and physically abused and denied regular bathroom breaks, according to a newly proposed amended complaint in a class action lawsuit first filed in August 2024. One former worker told the Guardian that he experienced incontinence issues as a result. HelloFresh denies the allegations, saying its internal investigation found the claims “entirely without merit.” A New Jersey state court judge is expected to review the amended complaint at a hearing scheduled for 23 October.
What the amended complaint alleges
In the civil lawsuit, workers allege that HelloFresh and temporary staff managers took ID badges from temp workers, even though those badges are required to leave the facility. The workers also allege that managers repeatedly threatened to call ICE and immigration authorities on them. ICE is the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, the federal body responsible for enforcing immigration law. According to the filing, workers were subjected to physical and verbal abuse, and Hispanic female employees were sexually harassed.
The complaint further alleges that the temporary workforce, which consisted primarily of Hispanic workers, was discriminated against in violation of New Jersey’s anti-discrimination laws. These are allegations made by the plaintiffs and have not been proven in court. Taken together, they describe a workplace in which the power to control movement, identification and communication sat largely with managers, and in which the people affected were predominantly Hispanic temp workers.
The suit also claims that HelloFresh assigned its Hispanic workers “the hardest work,” and that supervisors consistently made racist and abusive remarks. According to the lawsuit, supervisors berated workers for speaking Spanish rather than English. It further claims that supervisors enforced a no-cellphone policy against Hispanic workers while not enforcing it for others. Each of these points is part of the plaintiffs’ case and would need to be tested through the legal process.
HelloFresh’s response and the legal motions
A spokesperson for HelloFresh denied all allegations in the lawsuit. In an email, the spokesperson said: “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.”
HelloFresh had already moved to dismiss the case. In a motion to dismiss filed in April 2025, the subscription-based meal kit delivery service again denied the allegations. A motion to dismiss asks a court to end a case, or parts of it, before it goes to trial, usually by arguing that the claims are legally insufficient even if the facts alleged were true.
The staffing agencies named in the case, Action Staffing, On Target Staffing and ProStaff Workforce Solutions, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. They have also moved to dismiss the lawsuit. The source material does not report the outcome of any of these motions.
Background: how the case reached this stage
HelloFresh is a meal kit company founded in Berlin that sends subscribers pre-portioned ingredients and recipes. Its distribution facilities, including the one in Newark, handle the large volumes of packing and shipping that such a business requires. Like many companies with seasonal or fluctuating labour needs, it has relied on temporary workers supplied through third-party staffing agencies. That structure matters in this case because the workers say they were managed on a day-to-day basis by people working alongside HelloFresh staff, while the agencies that employed them are also named as defendants.
A class action is a lawsuit brought by one or more people on behalf of a larger group who share similar claims. This allows many workers to pursue a case together rather than individually. An amended complaint is a revised version of the original filing, typically used to add details, new claims or new defendants. The fact that the amended complaint is being reviewed indicates that the case is moving through the courts more than two years after it was first filed. The original lawsuit was filed in August 2024, according to the source material.
The workers’ timeline also goes back further than the lawsuit itself. HelloFresh’s spokesperson said the allegations date from 2023 and years prior. That suggests the case concerns a period of several years at the Newark site, rather than a single incident.
The account of a former temp worker
Luis Penafiel is a former temp worker who was employed at the HelloFresh distribution center in Newark from November 2021 to August 2023. He is a plaintiff in the lawsuit. He says that working conditions began to deteriorate shortly after he was hired. “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 said.
Penafiel also described why workers did not speak up sooner. “We were afraid of punishment for complaining,” he said. He added: “We want the authorities to listen to us and to realize the conditions that people are working under at these places.” His account is consistent with the central allegation that workers feared consequences, including the threats to involve immigration authorities, if they raised concerns.
The Guardian reported that one former worker told the paper he experienced incontinence issues as a result of being denied regular bathroom breaks. The source material does not identify that worker by name in the portion provided, and the connection between the restrictions and his health has not been independently established in court.
Why the case matters for workers
For temporary workers, the stakes of a case like this go beyond a single company. Temp workers often depend on both an agency and a host employer for their pay, schedules and assignments. When it is unclear who controls the workplace rules, it can be harder for workers to know where to report abuse or discrimination. The allegation that managers held onto workers’ ID badges, which were needed to leave the building, illustrates how control over basic movement can become a tool of pressure.
The threats to call immigration authorities raise a particular concern. Workers who fear that reporting a problem could lead to deportation or other immigration consequences may be far less likely to complain to employers or regulators. Legal observers often note that this kind of fear can allow workplace misconduct to continue unchecked. This is an analytical point about the broader risk, not a finding in this case.
For HelloFresh and other companies that rely on temporary labour, the case highlights how responsibility is shared between a brand, its staffing partners and its supervisors. Courts will need to decide how responsibility is allocated, which is one reason the motions to dismiss and the amended complaint are central to what happens next.
What to watch next
The immediate milestone is the hearing scheduled for 23 October, at which a New Jersey state court judge is expected to review the amended complaint. The source material does not say whether the judge will rule at that hearing or how the court will treat HelloFresh’s and the staffing agencies’ motions to dismiss. Analysts expect courts to focus first on whether the amended complaint sets out legally sufficient claims, rather than on the factual merits, which would typically come later in the process.
Several questions remain open. The court could allow the amended complaint to proceed, require further changes, or dismiss some claims. The defendants could continue to contest the allegations through the discovery process, where evidence is exchanged. No trial date is reported in the source material. Because the allegations are contested and untested, any conclusions about what happened at the Newark facility should await court findings or a settlement.
For readers, the case is a reminder that claims made in court filings are allegations until a court or a negotiated resolution determines otherwise. HelloFresh has said the claims are without merit, and the staffing agencies have sought to exit the case. The workers, for their part, have described fear of retaliation and a desire for regulators and courts to examine conditions at facilities like this one. How the judge responds on 23 October will be the next clear signal of how the case will proceed.
Questions and answers
What are HelloFresh workers in Newark accusing the company of?
Workers allege in a proposed amended class action complaint that they were verbally and physically abused and denied regular bathroom breaks. The suit also alleges ID badge seizures, threats to call immigration authorities, sexual harassment and discrimination against the mostly Hispanic temp workforce.
How has HelloFresh responded to the lawsuit?
A HelloFresh spokesperson denied all allegations and said the company’s internal investigation found the claims “entirely without merit.” The company filed a motion to dismiss in April 2025.
When is the next hearing in the HelloFresh lawsuit?
A New Jersey state court judge is expected to review the amended complaint at a hearing scheduled for 23 October. The source material does not report the outcome of that hearing.
When was the HelloFresh class action first filed?
The class action lawsuit was first filed in August 2024 against HelloFresh and staffing agencies. The staffing agencies named are Action Staffing, On Target Staffing and ProStaff Workforce Solutions, which have moved to dismiss the case.
Topics: HelloFresh, Newark New Jersey, Class action lawsuit, Workplace abuse allegations, Temporary workers, Employment discrimination, Meal kit delivery
Sources: The Guardian Business