Federal officials sue Connecticut nursery over migrant wages
April 9, 2007
Associated Press NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The U.S. Department of Labor has filed lawsuits accusing a large Connecticut nursery of failing to pay migrant workers the minimum wage and its labor recruiter of failing to obtain approval to transport them.

The lawsuits come after a dozen Guatemalan workers filed a federal lawsuit in February accusing Imperial Nurseries in Granby and its recruiter of engaging in human trafficking by forcing them to work nearly 80 hours per week, paying them less than minimum wage and denying them medical care for injuries on the job.




The workers say they were promised jobs planting trees in North Carolina for $7.50 per hour. Instead, they say they were taken in a van to Connecticut without their consent, had their passports confiscated so they would not escape, and were threatened with arrest or deportation.

The latest lawsuits, filed in U.S. District Court last week and announced Monday by the labor department, accuse Imperial and Pro-Tree Forestry of failing to properly pay the workers.

Labor officials are asking a judge to order the defendants to pay 27 workers back wages and damages and to prohibit them from violating the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act in the future.

Pro-Tree, based in Tallahassee, Fla., was also accused of failing to obtain approval to use a van to transport the workers and to use rental housing in Hartford to house them and failing to maintain proper payroll information.

Imperial's parent company, Griffin Land & Nurseries, declined comment Monday, saying it had not seen the latest lawsuit.

In February, Griffin said the workers were hired by Pro-Tree, an independent labor contractor Imperial had retained. Griffin said it cooperated with an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.

"The DOL later advised Imperial that they were satisfied over the Pro-Tree workers' living conditions and transportation and found no basis for the human trafficking allegations," the company said.

Labor officials did advise Imperial that some Pro-Tree employees were not being paid the legally required wage. Imperial terminated its contract with Pro Tree on June 30, the company said.

"Imperial was appalled to hear that Pro-Tree was not paying its employees appropriately, because it paid Pro Tree well in excess of what they would need to pay their employees in compliance with applicable law," the company said. "In addition, Imperial offered to give the DOL the final payment Imperial owed to Pro Tree so that DOL could pay these Pro-Tree workers directly."

That offer was inadequate, said John Chavez, a labor department spokesman.

A telephone message was left with William Forero-Rozo, Pro-Tree's owner.

The workers say in their lawsuit that they were afraid to talk freely to labor investigators because of the threats of deportation and arrest.

Imperial's sales volume places it among the 20 largest landscape nursery growers in the country, according to the lawsuit.

The workers were recruited last spring and early summer, according to the lawsuit, which accuses the defendants of engaging in human trafficking and a pattern of racketeering.

The workers were paid about $3.75 per hour but also incurred substantial, illegal deductions which further reduced their wages, according to the lawsuit. The workers also incurred substantial debts in Guatemala to pay for their visas and trip to the U.S., according to the lawsuit they filed.

Some of the workers flew to North Carolina, then were taken to Hartford in a small van. When they arrived, they were housed in small filthy apartments and slept on the floors, according to their lawsuit.

The work involved preparing flowers, trees, shrubs and other plants to be sold to residential and wholesale consumers.

The lawsuit seeks back pay and damages.

Pro Tree employees opened the workers' mail, prohibited them from riding city buses and restricted their travel, the lawsuit alleges. The workers also say they were subject to verbal abuse.

The lawsuit contends the defendants knew or should have known that the labor contractor employed such techniques.

http://www.courant.com/news/local/state ... local-wire

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