More than 60 farmworkers will receive $450,000 in back wages following the 2023 shooting that left seven dead, including five Chinese farmworkers.
Local News Matter reports the Labor Department issued the order against the two farms where the shooting occurred-Concord Farms Inc. and California Terra Garden.
Investigators concluded the two farms violated the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act.
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The investigation found the two farms underpaid their workers and provided unsanitary and unsafe housing, reported CNN.
“Our investigators found workers at California Terra Gardens and Concord Farms housed in sickening conditions, forced to sleep near garbage and with insects all around,” Alberto Raymond, the department’s wage and hour division assistant district director, said in a statement.
At California Terra Gardens, the Labor Department says 39 farmworkers slept in garages, cargo containers and dilapidated trailers. The investigation found employers deducted pay from the workers’ wages for unsanitary living conditions.
At Concord Farms, authorities determined the workers there lived in rooms within a greenhouse infested with insects.
Concord Farms agreed to pay $370,000 in overtime and liquidated damages to 10 workers plus $33,000 in penalties and late wages. California Terra Gardens is expected to pay $84,000 to 39 workers for deductions for illegal housing and $42,000 in civil penalties.
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