San Antonio-based H-E-B faces protests in Northern Mexico, call for boycott over worker death

The San Antonio-based grocery store chain has issued a statement expressing condolences for the worker’s family. Credit: Shutterstock / Moab Republic

Protesters staged a demonstration outside an H-E-B grocery in Northern Mexico this week after the death of one of the store’s contract employees, whose sister alleges he was poisoned by coworkers.

Carlos Gurrola Arguijo, known as “El Papayita” by friends and family, died last month due to complications from extreme burns to his lungs, according to Mexican news outlet El Sol de la Laguna. The death came after Arguijo ingested a “solvent or toxic substance” that his sister speculates was put in his drink as a prank by co-workers, the report said.

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

“They slashed his bike tires several times, and we’ve heard they threatened him,” Arguijo’s sister said. “We don’t understand why they treated him like that. All he did was go to work to help our parents.”

El Sol de la Laguna wrote in a separate report that H-E-B Mexico initially “distanced itself from the situation, arguing that Arguijo wasn’t a direct employee.” Meanwhile, officials with Multiservicios Rocasa even suggested the worker “attempted suicide,” according to the report.

Both H-E-B Mexico and its San Antonio-based parent have since put out statements saying company officials have met with the worker’s family and are cooperating with authorities as they investigate.

“We offer our condolences to the family and friends of Carlos Gurrola Arguijo, who was beloved throughout the community,” H-E-B corporate officials said in a statement .

Arguijo’s family filed a complaint with authorities on Sept. 3, sparking both local and state inquiries. However, Carlos Rangel, head of the Laguna I Delegation of the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Coahuila, said in a Monday statement that authorities found “no evidence of criminal intent” in the death, MySA reports.

However, the recent statements from H-E-B and Coahuila state officials weren’t enough to hold off the protest outside of the store where Arguijo worked. An online video appears to show several hundred people gathered for the sometimes-tense demonstration.

A recently established Facebook page with nearly 8,000 followers demands that the people responsible for Arguijo’s death be held accountable, and some on the social media platform are also calling for a national boycott of H-E-B’s Mexico stores.

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San Antonio-based H-E-B faces protests in Northern Mexico, call for boycott over worker death

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