San Antonio-based H-E-B faces protests in Northern Mexico, name for boycott over employee demise

Protesters staged an illustration outdoors an H-E-B grocery in Northern Mexico this week after the demise of one of many retailer’s contract staff, whose sister alleges he was poisoned by coworkers.

Carlos Gurrola Arguijo, generally known as “El Papayita” by family and friends, died final month as a result of issues from excessive burns to his lungs, in keeping with Mexican information outlet El Sol de la Laguna. The demise got here after Arguijo ingested a “solvent or poisonous substance” that his sister speculates was put in his drink as a prank by co-workers, the report stated. 

Arguijo labored for Multiservicios Rocasa SA of CV, a third-party contractor for H-E-B Mexico — a enterprise unit of San Antonio-based H-E-B — at its Torreón location. The sister informed El Sol de la Laguna that Arguijo had been the sufferer of previous bullying by coworkers.

“They slashed his bike tires a number of occasions, and we’ve heard they threatened him,” Arguijo’s sister stated. “We don’t perceive why they handled him like that. All he did was go to work to assist our mother and father.”

El Sol de la Laguna wrote in a separate report that H-E-B Mexico initially “distanced itself from the state of affairs, arguing that Arguijo wasn’t a direct worker.” In the meantime, officers with Multiservicios Rocasa even recommended the employee “tried suicide,” in keeping with the report. 

Each H-E-B Mexico and its San Antonio-based mum or dad have since put out statements saying firm officers have met with the employee’s household and are cooperating with authorities as they examine.

“We provide our condolences to the household and buddies of Carlos Gurrola Arguijo, who was beloved all through the neighborhood,” H-E-B company officers stated in a press release .

Arguijo’s household filed a grievance with authorities on Sept. 3, sparking each native and state inquiries. Nonetheless, Carlos Rangel, head of the Laguna I Delegation of the Legal professional Normal’s Workplace of the State of Coahuila, stated in a Monday assertion that authorities discovered “no proof of prison intent” within the demise, MySA reviews. 

Nonetheless, the latest statements from H-E-B and Coahuila state officers weren’t sufficient to carry off the protest outdoors of the shop the place Arguijo labored.  A web-based video seems to indicate a number of hundred folks gathered for the sometimes-tense demonstration.