November 2006 Updates

November 2006 Updates

Rev. 10/31/2006

Recent Cases

Federal Labor and Housing Case

Twenty-four migrant farmworkers represented by Farmworker Legal Services have obtained a settlement of $11,000 in a federal lawsuit filed against an Ubly-based farming corporation.

In the lawsuit, Palomin et al. v. Hagen et al., filed in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the farmworkers alleged numerous violations of state and federal laws including the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.  

The farmworkers alleged that they were made homeless after being unlawfully evicted from a farmhouse owned by Atwater Farms, Inc.  Sixteen of the farmworkers alleged that they hoed sugar beets in exchange for occupying the dilapidated three bedroom house, and that no worker received any wages for the work performed.  The workers complained of being forcibly evicted after the discontinuation of electric utility service and removal of the portable toilets and water tank serving the unlicensed labor camp.  The occupants also included eight children and dependents of the migrant workers.  “These vulnerable families complained of working for no wages and being forced from their only shelter,” said Susan E. Reed, one of the farmworkers’ attorneys.  “I hope that the case sends a message to any employer who would ignore the laws that protect migrant farmworkers.”

 
EEOC Employment Discrimination Complaint

A migrant farmworker represented by Farmworker Legal Services recently obtained a favorable settlement of $15,000 in a federal complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed against a Michigan farm.  The farmworker alleged that the employer discriminated against her based on her gender. 

The farmworker obtained the job at a location where several dozen male H-2A workers were being housed.  She was housed in her own room in a house where about 4 male workers were staying.  The farmworker alleged that she was verbally harassed in the house by male workers, and spent a night in fear of them.  She said that when she complained about the treatment to the employer and asked to be placed in alternative housing, the employer threatened that she would be placed in a house where over 20 male workers were staying.  The farmworker decided to leave her employment and go back to Texas. 

After filing the complaint, a settlement was reached at a conciliation meeting held at the Detroit office of the EEOC.  The client was very grateful for this favorable resolution to her discrimination complaint. 

 
Migrant Farmworker Family: Unemployment, Family Immigration, Citizenship

Farmworker Legal Services successfully assisted a migrant family this season with multiple legal issues. 

First, the Unemployment Insurance Agency denied the working father’s application for benefits; the basis for the denial being that he did not provide proof of his immigration status.  FLS assisted the farmworker with an appeal in front of an Administrative Law Judge.  We successfully argued that the farmworker had previously provided proof of his status, and the Judge agreed that he was eligible for benefits and did not have to re-pay the benefits that he had received.

Second, we assisted the client in submitting paperwork necessary for his son to be granted residency.  The client attended an interview with his son in August, and the son is now living with him as a lawful permanent resident. 

Third, the client sought our assistance in becoming a U.S. citizen.  We determined that both he and his wife were eligible to apply for citizenship and neither would have to pass the English test because they are over 55 years old and have been lawful permanent residents for more than 15 years.  The clients took part in the Naturalization Clinic that FLS sponsored this summer.  Pro bono attorneys are now assisting the client and his wife with their citizenship applications.  If all goes well, both he and his wife will be sworn in as U.S. citizens by next summer.