Working Conditions at Washington Blueberry Farm Amounted to Forced Labor, Lawsuit Claims
Operators of a Washington blueberry farm repeatedly threatened immigrant workers with deportation, provided them insufficient meals, and told them to work “unless they were on their death bed,” according to a lawsuit filed by two high-profile local law firms Thursday.
The suit alleges Sarbanand Farms in Whatcom County and its California-based parent company Munger Brothers violated state and federal law in their treatment of workers. Munger is the largest blueberry producer in the world, according to the complaint in the case. The company sells to Costco, Walmart, Whole Foods, Safeway, and other stores, according to its website.
Last summer, about 70 workers at Sarbanand Farm went on strike after one of their coworkers, Honesto Silva Ibarra, was hospitalized. Silva Ibarra later died at Harborview Medical Center. Workers said managers at the farm had ignored his requests to see a doctor before his death. After the one-day strike, the company fired the workers and gave them an hour to leave the farm where they worked and lived. Some workers then moved down the road to a makeshift camp. The case filed Thursday does not directly link working conditions to Silva Ibarra’s death, but claims the company’s treatment of workers both before and after the strike was illegal.
The suit, filed by Columbia Legal Services and Schroeter, Goldmark, and Bender, currently lists two Mexican workers as plaintiffs. But the lawyers are seeking class action status to represent more than 600 workers who came to the United States on H-2A visas, given to temporary agricultural workers, and picked blueberries for Sarbanand Farms and Munger Brothers. The case seeks injunctions against the companies to improve worker conditions as well as unspecified lost wages and damages.
Read more: https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2018/01/25/25750229/working-conditions-as-washington-blueberry-farm-amounted-to-forced-labor-lawsuit-claims
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