Migrant Agricultural Workers Sue Alleging Unpaid Overtime Wages, Substandard Housing, Unlawful Retention of Security Deposit

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Two migrant agricultural workers, who traveled to Minnesota from Texas for seasonal work, filed a lawsuit against their former employer alleging that they were not paid overtime wages, were housed in unsafe housing, and their security deposit was unlawfully withheld.

On April 25, 2024, two former employees of Lakeside Foods, Inc. (“Lakeside”) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota against the company. Lakeside provided Plaintiffs with substandard housing; deducted rent from their wages without proper authorization; and failed to pay overtime wages as required by federal law. Additionally, Lakeside illegally retained the housing security deposit, despite Plaintiffs’ verbal and written demands to return it. Plaintiffs seek to recover wages for themselves and for other workers who were improperly deducted rent for unpermitted, substandard housing, reducing their overtime pay. The claims extend back to 2021.

The workers were recruited by Lakeside to travel from Texas to Minnesota to perform seasonal agricultural labor, including harvesting and processing vegetables at Lakeside’s plant in Plainview, Minnesota. Although most agricultural workers are still excluded from federal overtime laws, these workers were entitled to time-and-a-half pay for any work over 40 hours in a week for their work with Lakeside.

Under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (“AWPA”), migrant agricultural workers have specific rights regarding their housing conditions. Minimum housing requirements include effective measures to prevent infestations of rodents and pests and screened windows that open to provide adequate air flow. In this case, Lakeside provided Plaintiffs with housing that was infested with insects and rodents, lacked screens for windows, and had mold. Despite these substandard conditions, Lakeside still charged Plaintiffs rent.

Regulatory and enforcement systems of agricultural worker housing standards are fragmented and incomplete, as highlighted in the 2021 Report by the Minnesota Governor’s Committee on the Health, Safety, and Wellbeing of Agricultural and Food Processing Workers (“AWWC”). The Housing Complaints resource, listed on the AWWC’s website, highlights the complexity and intricacy of worker housing situations.

These deficiencies result in most agricultural worker housing being uninspected and bad housing conditions being highlighted only in rare cases when workers speak up. However, the AWPA is clear that Lakeside has a duty to request housing inspections before workers move in. 

Not only were Plaintiffs subjected to substandard housing, but they also bore the cost of it through Lakeside’s unlawful wage deductions and wrongful withholding of their security deposits.

Cannery workers, like Plaintiffs, have been protected by Minnesota’s own Migrant Labor Act for years. This law requires agricultural employers who recruit and hire migrant workers to provide clear, written terms of employment and follow through on their promises to pay their workers according to those terms. This protects workers who travel long distances to Minnesota in reliance on promises from employers. Effective July 1, 2023, these protections are extended to a broader group of agricultural workers. Additional information about these protections is available at the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry website. 

Plaintiffs are represented by Griselt Andrade, Peter Murray, and Brianna Boone of the Agricultural Worker Project (“AWP”). The AWP is a project of the nonprofit legal aid firm Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (“SMRLS”) and is funded by the Legal Services Corporation.

Agricultural workers, including recruited migrant workers, can contact the AWP (1-800-652-9733) with questions or concerns about their legal rights in Minnesota or North Dakota.

Contact: Elise Sporre, AWP Project Manager & Outreach Coordinator, elise.sporre@smrls.org