Twenty six former employees of Delia’s Tamales filed a lawsuit against the company accusing it of committing wage theft and fraud for decades, court records show.

According to the lawsuit, all 26 former employees worked for Delia’s Tamales — cited as Delgar Foods LLC in the lawsuit — from Nov. 2000 through May 2023. 

During that period, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit received fake social security numbers to be able to work for the company, the lawsuit stated. Delia’s Tamales would then commit illegal paycheck deductions for social security contributions.

“Even if defendant filed the deductions with social security, social security would not be able to identify any of the plaintiffs, because their social security cards were fake,” the lawsuit stated. “Social security would send the monies back to defendant, because the social security cards she helped get plaintiffs were fake.”

The lawsuit also stated Delia’s Tamales committed age discrimination by letting the employees go the closer it got to their retirement age.

“This action had been going on for years and happened to each plaintiff in this cause,” the lawsuit stated.

The lawsuit was filed on Oct. 6 in district court, but it has since been moved to federal court.

A hearing is set for Dec. 15.

A representative for Delia’s Tamales couldn’t be reached for comment.