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Farmworkers sue major Florida tomato producer for back wages
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MIAMI — More than 170 farmworkers have sued Ag-Mart Produce Inc., one of the state’s largest vegetable growers, claiming the company altered records to avoid paying them for the hours they worked.
The farmworkers, all migrants from Mexico, are seeking class action status on behalf of 3,000 Mexican and Central American workers who have picked tomatoes for the company, according to the lawsuit filed in Ft. Myers federal court Friday.
The workers are seeking back wages and damages of up to $500,000 as allowed under federal law.
Ag-Mart referred calls Wednesday to attorney David Stefany, who said he was aware of the lawsuit but had yet to read it.
According to the complaint, the company hired farmworkers at piecework rates between June 2005 and July 2006 to pick tomatoes, as well as lay plastic, operate irrigation and perform other post-harvest jobs.
“Among other things, Ag-Mart failed to accurately record the number of compensable hours the Plaintiffs and the other class members were employed,” the lawsuit stated.
The farmworkers’ attorney, Greg Schell, of the Migrant Farmworker Justice Project, said the company altered the hours his clients had worked.
“They were doing what many agricultural employers do, they were hiring the workers at piecework rates but if the piecework doesn’t equal minimum wage, they’re supposed to make up for it,” Schell said. “To get around this, they were writing down fewer hours than the workers had worked.”
Ag-Mart has faced several lawsuits in recent years over its treatment of farmworkers.
One migrant family is suing the company for damages over their son’s birth defects, which they allege were caused by the company’s use of pesticides.
Two other federal cases are pending in Jacksonville against Ag-Mart in connection with conditions in hotels where workers for its North Florida operations are housed.
The company is also awaiting judges’ recommendations in separate cases in North Carolina and Florida over complaints brought by the states’ departments of agriculture concerning Ag-Mart’s use of pesticides.
And between 1999 and 2003, Ag-Mart was also cited three times by Florida inspectors for violations of pesticide regulations in its fields.
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