Witness Tampering Hearing Denied in Mohawk Case

Rome, GA, April 10, 2007--A judge today denied a request for an emergency hearing to investigate alleged witness tampering by Mohawk Industries in a federal lawsuit, according to the Rome News-Tribune.

The newspaper stated that the evidentiary hearing was requested after one current and one former employee said they were subject to intimidation and threats aimed at stopping them from testifying in the case.

Mohawk is accused of “widespread employment of illegal workers” in order to drive down wages of hourly workers and workers compensation claims at their Northwest Georgia plants.

Norman Carpenter and Christina Martinez claim to have first-hand information related to the 2004 lawsuit being argued in U.S. District Court in Rome.

Carpenter filed a separate suit last month making these claims. Martinez joined that litigation by way of a declaration.

The newspaper said that U.S. District Judge Harold L. Murphy denied the hearing on grounds the evidence presented, even if all taken as true, makes it “far from clear that Mohawk has engaged in anything approaching ‘witness tampering.’”

Murphy’s order said an emergency hearing would be an unnecessary, extraordinary remedy and therefore premature.