DOVER, Del. — Employees who once worked for the Georgetown-based Townsends Inc. poultry processing firm have filed a lawsuit in an attempt to receive unpaid wages they believe they are owed, according to The Associated Press. The plaintiffs claim they are entitled to reimbursement for paid vacation time they accrued after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December.

The employees’ lawsuit was filed earlier this week in federal bankruptcy court. The plaintiffs were among more than 1,000 Townsends employees in Chatham County, NC, who were terminated in February as part of the company's sale to Alabama-based Peco Foods and Omtron Ltd., an affiliate of the largest egg producer in Ukraine, the lawsuit stated.


After struggling for several years with high costs for feed and low prices for chickens, Townsends filed for bankruptcy protection.