Business & Tech
Defunct Strawberry Farm, President Ordered To Pay $2.4 Million For Labor Violations
Fernandez Farms operators in Watsonville had workers lie and pay improper kickbacks and rent, U.S. Labor Dept. officials said. [Breaking]
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA – A now-defunct Watsonville strawberry grower has been ordered to pay $2.4 million in back wages and penalties for abusing the H-2A visa program that allows employers to bring foreign workers to the U.S. under certain conditions, U.S. Department of Labor officials said.
Fernandez Farms and its president Gonzalo Fernandez must pay more than $1.1 million in back wages to both domestic and immigrant workers for wage theft, intimidation of workers and disregard of the visa program in 2010 and 2011, labor department officials said.
The H-2A visa program allows U.S. companies to bring foreign workers to the U.S. for temporary or seasonal agricultural work if a company can show that there are not enough domestic workers for the job. Companies
must also show that the hirings will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similar domestic workers.
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The penalties Fernandez and his company must pay for the violations total nearly $1.3 million and he is barred from the visa program for three years, although he can still be a farmer.
Fernandez Farms is no longer in operation but Department of Labor senior trial attorney Abigail Daquiz said investigators believe his family continues to operate farms in Watsonville.
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Labor department officials said Fernandez Farms improperly required workers to give back hundreds of dollars from their pay to cover administrative costs of the visa program, refused to hire U.S. workers and
intimidated and coerced workers to lie to and hide from investigators.
Fernandez Farms officials had 114 workers give the improper kickbacks in 2010 and 135 in 2011, Daquiz said.
Workers were also required to pay rent, which was about $125 to $150 per month and something workers do not have to do under the visa program.
Five U.S. workers applied or attempted to apply to Fernandez Farms for employment and company officials refused to consider them, according to labor department officials.
Each worker affected by Fernandez's violations will receive about $4,000 as part of administrative law judge Richard Clark's order against the company, Daquiz said.
Also see: Monterey Mushrooms Production Facility Destroyed In Fire
--Bay City News/Shutterstock image
