Migrant Farmers Get $5M Settlement in Underpaid Wages Lawsuit

A lawsuit affecting migrant farmers has reached a settlement following a judge’s approval of a $5 million proposal.

The underpaid wages lawsuit affects more than 6,000 seasonal workers who provided services to Gerawan Farming Inc. The Class is expected to receive about $3.37 million. The workers who brought the suit believe the proposed amount is fair considering the challenges they anticipated facing if the trial continued.

Each year, Gerwan Farming hires seasonal workers to pick the fruit on its farms. According to the underpaid wages lawsuit, the workers were paid on a piece-rate basis. This means that the workers were paid based on the amount of fruit they picked and not a specific wage.

The workers claimed that if the per-piece rate accumulated over the course of the week did not meet minimum wage standards that Gerawan was supposed to pay the difference. The two workers who filed the original underpaid wages lawsuit in 2014 claimed that Gerwan did not pay its workers minimum wages or overtime and accused the company of failing to provide paid rest breaks, all of which, they alleged, are violations of California labor laws and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Act.

A judge granted class certification in the underpaid wages lawsuit in May 2016, at which time it was revealed that more than 6,000 workers would be included in the suit.

California has numerous laws designed to protect workers. Additionally, workers are protected by federal laws that allow for legal remedies for labor law violations.

Federal law requires employers to pay overtime, properly classify workers as employees or contractors, and not engage in discriminatory or retaliatory behavior, among other things. When a worker believes a company has violated the law, a class action lawsuit on behalf of all affected workers may be brought.

According to Farmworker Justice, fieldhands and migrant workers are frequent targets for abusive or illegal employment practices. This can include forms of wage theft, dangerous working conditions, and skating  minimum wage laws.

Farmworker Justice points out that even though there are specific aspects of seasonal and farm labor work covered by California law, federal laws address these workers’ protections in the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act is the primary law governing farmworkers. While these workers cannot participate in collective bargaining or join labor unions, they have other important protections covered under this set of laws. For example, Congress adopted a broader definition of “employee” due to migrant workers’ claims that many farms were attempting to avoid legal obligations by classifying farmhands and other seasonal workers as independent contractors rather than employees.

The Underpaid Wages Lawsuit is Rafael Marquez Amaro et al. v. Gerawan Farming Inc. et al., Case No. 1:14-cv-00147 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

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