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October 2 2008
griprocessors, the embattled
operator of a much-criti-
cized kosher slaughterhouse
in Postville, Iowa, has appointed a
Long Island tax attorney who formerly
represented the company in a fraud
lawsuit as its new chief executive offi-
cer.
With Bernard Feldman's hire, the
troubled company has dodged at least
one bullet: suspension of its kosher
certification by the Orthodox Union.
The kosher agency had threatened last
month to suspend certification if new
management wasn't hired within two
weeks.
The O.U. issued its ultimatum after
Iowa's attorney general filed a crimi-
nal complaint against the company's
owner, Aaron Rubashkin, his son and
three other officials alleging more than
9,000 counts of child labor law viola-
tions.
The O.U. welcomed Feldman's
appointment.
"I believe that Agriprocessors serves
a vital function to the Orthodox
community and others who are in
need of acquiring glatt kosher food:'
Feldman said the day his appoint-
ment was announced. "I have had a
good relationship with the family, the
Rubashkins, for some period of time.
And at their request I have agreed to
come in and assist them."
Feldman, 63, takes the helm as
problems continue to mount for
Agriprocessors, the country's largest
kosher meat producer until a federal
immigration raid on May 12 led to
the arrest of more than one-third of
its workforce. Besides the child labor
charges, the first criminal charges to
be brought against Agriprocessors'
senior management, former and
replacement workers have accused the
company of everything from tolerating
sexual harassment to shorting employ-
ees on pay. Agriprocessors has stead-
fastly denied wrongdoing and said it
is looking forward to its day in court.
Feldman said he believes the company
has been unfairly maligned.
"To the best of my knowledge,
there was no abuse of the kind that
has been alleged;' Feldman said. "The
question of underage employment in
my mind is in serious doubt. And I
firmly believe, based upon my pres-
ent familiarity with the situation, that
none of the ownership or the family
has any direct or indirect culpability
or responsibility to any of these allega-
tions, which I ultimately believe will
not be sustained in a court!' Feldman
has longstanding ties to the Rubashkin
family, whom he defended in the
Allou Distributors case, in which
unexplained payments were made to
Agriprocessors and its affiliates by
a New York firm whose executives
pleaded guilty to defrauding investors.
Agriprocessors paid $1.4 million to
settle the case.
Feldman's expertise is in corporate
reorganization, and he has never
worked in the kosher meat industry.
He will retain his New York resi-
dency while working for the company,
though he said he intends to spend
"the major part of the next several
months" in Iowa.
"The first thing I would like is to
restore Agriprocessors to the promi-
nence that it once enjoyed:' Feldman
said. "I am here to oversee and ensure
that the record-keeping of the compa-
ny is in full compliance with all exist-
ing rules and regulations. Toward that
end, I anticipate working closely with
other professionals and experts that
exist and will be brought on board to
accomplish it.
"Because of our decreased produc-
tion since the May raid, one of my
primary goals is to resupply the plant
with qualified, productive employees.
I further intend to revamp the present
financial structure so that we can cre-
ate a positive cash flow"
Feldman said he would remain in
the position as long as necessary to
accomplish those objectives.
Feldman also said he had not yet
"formalized" the future role in the
company of Sholom Rubashkin,
Aaron's son and the plant's former top
manager, though he said Sholom's role
would be "severely diminished!'