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In December 2012, the New York-based Greek yogurt company began making yogurt at it’s new manufacturing facility in Twin Falls, Idaho.The company announced in 2011 plans to build it’s second U.S. manufacturing plant. Chobani chose Twin Falls. The company has said it plans to hire up to 500 people once the facility starts operating at full capacity.Hamdi Ulukaya founded the Chobani Greek Yogurt company in 2005. According to Chobani’s website, Ulukaya threw himself into the yogurt business after he saw an ad for a recently shuttered Kraft yogurt plant in his local newspaper. He purchased that facility.By 2007, Chobani Greek Yogurt could be found in New York grocery stores. By 2010, it became the number one selling Greek yogurt in the country.

Second Former Idaho Chobani Employee Sues Accusing Age Discrimination

Emilie Ritter Saunders
/
StateImpact Idaho

A second former employee of Chobani has accused the yogurt company of age discrimination.

The Times-News reports Virginia Tucker, who worked as a maintenance technician at the Twin Falls yogurt plant from January 2013 until she was fired in June 2015, filed a suit Monday in federal court.

The suit says Tucker was older than 60 when she was fired, was the second-oldest employee in the maintenance department and Chobani fired about eight other employees older than 45 around the same time. The suit says Tucker was discriminated against because of her age and gender.

Tucker was let go on the same day as Jerry Ash, a former maintenance supervisor who sued claiming age discrimination a month ago. Ash's case is still pending.

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