Judge Permits Class Action Status Against Sarbanand

Last week, a Seattle U.S. District Court judge certified a class-action lawsuit on behalf of some 600 Mexican workers who have alleged labor abuses at a Whatcom County blueberry farm.  The lawsuit alleges the company violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which forbids  forced labor, through threats and implied threats that the workers would be sent to Mexico if they complained or did not meet production standards.

The lawsuit’s other allegations include that Sarbanand Farms breached its contract with workers by providing low-quality food and violated Washington law by firing workers who staged a one-day strike.  Unless a settlement is reached, the ruling by the judge sets the stage for a jury trial in a case filed by Columbia Legal Services on behalf of the farmworkers brought to work at Sarbanand Farms under the H-2A visa program.

In court filings, Sarbanand Farms has denied all allegations.  Tom Pedreira, the company’s general counsel, told the Seattle Times that the judge’s ruling is not a finding of any wrongdoing, and that Sarbanand Farms “takes seriously its responsibilities with respects to working conditions and worker safety.”

Joe Morrison, a Columbia Legal Service attorney, told the Times workers are unlikely to file individual suits, and the judge — after reviewing evidence — has found that “it needs to be brought as a class-action.”

The lawsuit results from a tense blueberry harvest in August 2017. One worker, 28-year-old Honesto Ibarra, fell ill on August 2 and died after being taken in a hospital. Then on Aug. 4, some 60 workers went on strike, and lost their jobs.  An autopsy found that Ibarra died of a natural cause. In an investigation, the state Department of Labor & Industries did not find that Sarbanand Farms was at fault for his death but did find violations related to late meals and missed employee breaks.

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