Judge grants class-action status to farm workers' lawsuit
Judge grants class-action status to farm workers' lawsuit
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
YAKIMA, Wash. -- A federal judge has granted class-action status to a lawsuit filed by Yakima Valley farm workers who contend a Los Angeles-based labor contractor illegally and intentionally displaced them with workers from Thailand.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Leavitt ruled that the three plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit may proceed on behalf of an estimated 600 farm workers allegedly denied work when Global Horizons Manpower imported workers from Thailand under the federal H-2A guest-worker program in 2004.
Global Horizons brought more than 100 temporary agricultural workers from Thailand to the Yakima Valley in 2004 and 2005 under the program, which allows a labor contractor to bring in foreign workers if it can prove workers can't be found locally.
The local workers, who are represented by Columbia Legal Services, allege the company violated state and federal law by intentionally displacing them with the foreign workers.
Attorneys for Global Horizons had argued that the definition of the proposed class was vague and imprecise. They also argued that 264 members of the class should not be counted because they presented Social Security numbers that didn't match federal records.
In his ruling Friday, Leavitt rejected Global's argument, finding that the immigration status of the plaintiffs doesn't provide a basis for excluding them from the class.
Global Horizons also argued that the entire case should be moot because the company lost its state farm-labor contractors license last year.
The state cited the company for a series of violations that occurred in 2004. Global Horizons later signed a settlement agreement under which it agreed to fix the violations and increase reporting requirements to the state. But the state Department of Labor and Industries revoked its license in December 2005 on the grounds that conditions of the settlement had not been met.
However, Leavitt found that because Global Horizons is appealing that decision and actively lobbying Gov. Chris Gregoire for reinstatement, the class-action complaint may proceed.
It is not absolutely clear, as Global Horizons argued, that Global's alleged illegal behavior will never recur in the future, Leavitt wrote.
The other defendants in the class-action lawsuit are Valley Fruit Orchards of Wapato and Green Acre Farms of Harrah, clients of Global where the workers were employed. Also named is Platte River Insurance Co., which posted performance bonds required of all state-licensed labor contractors.
---
Information from: Yakima Herald-Republic, http://
http://www.yakima-herald.com
