Paramount Citrus Tries to Erase California Wage and Hour Class Action

In a recent California wage and hour class action lawsuit, Paramount Citrus Cooperative Inc. is asking a California federal judge to dismiss a potential class action lawsuit over unpaid wages.

The wage and hour class action lawsuit accuses the nation’s largest citrus growing company of failing to pay migrant workers for non-harvesting duties. But the company argues that these laborers were working for a contractor, and were not joint employees working for the company.

Paramount Citrus filed a dismissal motion, stating the these workers worked on a seasonal basis and were actually employed directly by Camacho FLC, a farm labor contracting co-op company that regularly provides harvesting service hands to Paramount.

Furthermore, Paramount complains that this wage and hour class action lawsuit does not include any fact from the workers that would prove an employment relationship with the company.

The wage and hour class action lawsuit is directed at Paramount Citrus and its California location, Delano, of failing to pay these workers minimum wage for hours spent doing off-duty tasks.

This includes being in standby before beginning to do piecework, time spent waiting for their shift to end and be sent home for lack of work, traveling between field for work, and failing to pay for resting periods.

Each of these claims are in direct violation of the California Labor Code and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.

Overview of California Wage and Hour Violation Allegations

The wage and hour class action lawsuit was filed last month by lead plaintiffs Marcelina P. and Rigoberto M., who were both seasonal workers who have worked at various locations of Paramount Citrus.

The workers claim that they were required to report to work on a specific day set by Paramount Citrus, despite not starting work hours later. As mentioned before, workers were sometimes sent home because there was not enough work to keep them busy for the whole day.

These workers were also required to either walk or drive from field to field to complete their assigned work, but were not paid their piecework rates.

According to the class action lawsuit, the farms only paid $2 per hour to pick fruit and only $4 per hour to clean equipment, during the 2013-2014 seasons. Furthermore, the farm workers were reportedly not compensated at all for any of the rest periods during their shifts, which were two 15 minute periods.

After the harvesting season was over, the workers were laid-off and the co-op failed to compensate the field workers for all hours worked and resting periods.

When the motion was presented, Paramount Citrus stated that if the suit were allowed to go forward, the claim for wages upon termination should be dismissed because the workers lacked sufficient evidence for their claims.

The defendant points out that according to the California Labor Code, these claims are reserved for individuals who quit their occupation, rather than those who are laid off.

Under state labor laws, employers must compensate employees for any unpaid wages, unpaid overtime, and any missed meals and breaks. While contract workers are exempt from overtime, employers are still obligated to give them a base pay and fair treatment in a work environment.

The California Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuit is Peralta et al. v. Paramount Citrus Cooperative Inc., Case No. 1:15-cv-00263, in the U.S. District Court of Eastern California.

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