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Omaha Steve

(99,054 posts)
Thu Jul 10, 2014, 01:30 PM Jul 2014

Lawsuit alleges more than 250 labor violations during Maine blueberry harvest


X post in Labor

http://www.pressherald.com/2014/07/07/lawsuit-alleges-labor-violations-during-maine-blueberry-harvest/

Two businesses and a recruiter mistreated and cheated 18 migrant workers, many from Florida, during the 2008 harvest, the filing alleges.

STAFF REPORT
Eighteen migrant workers who came to Maine for the blueberry harvest have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against a farm labor recruiter, two blueberry businesses and several housing providers, saying they were not paid for much of their work and were housed in overcrowded, inadequate conditions.

The lawsuit, filed July 3 on behalf of the workers by Pine Tree Legal Assistance, claims multiple violations of federal wage and labor laws during the 2008 harvesting season and names as defendants a farm labor contractor, Carol Paul, who recruited and transported the migrant workers; two blueberry businesses, Coastal Blueberry Service Inc. and Hancock Foods Inc., and several owners of buildings where the workers lived.

The suit says that Paul, working on behalf of the companies, lied to the workers about the number of hours available to them and the wages they would earn. He then transported them in overcrowded buses from several Southern and mid-Atlantic states to Maine. Once in Maine, the suit claims, Paul charged the workers rent for housing that they were told would be free, and packed them into overcrowded homes and trailers. Paul and the companies also allegedly stole some of the workers’ wages, kept shoddy records and retaliated against workers when they sought legal help, according to the suit.

The 18 men and women named as plaintiffs are U.S. citizens born in Haiti or are Haitians with legal permanent residence status. Most live in Florida.

FULL story at link.

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