Guestworkers Settle Suit Against Six Mississippi Employers Over Pay, Employment Rights

Settlement reached in first-ever lawsuit filed by H-2A guestworkers in Mississippi

VARDAMAN, Mississippi – Eighteen Mexican farmworkers employed pursuant to the federal government’s H-2A visa guestworker program have settled a lawsuit against six Mississippi sweet potato employers for $27,300.

In the lawsuit, originally filed in August 2006, the farmworkers alleged that Mississippi-based employers Jon Clancy, William Blackman, Ryan Alexander, DMC Farms, Inc., Calhoun County Farms, LLC, and North American Labor Service, Inc. paid them less than the federal minimum wage, failed to pay wages and provide hours of work guaranteed in their contracts, used them for unauthorized work, and provided sub-standard housing that violated the terms of their contracts. The workers, recruited to harvest sweet potatoes in and around Vardaman, Mississippi, were represented by Texas RioGrande Legal Aid's special farmworkers project Southern Migrant Legal Services (SMLS) of Nashville, Tennessee and private attorneys Robert B. McDuff and Edward Tuddenham.

“When employers abuse the H-2A program, domestic workers suffer just as much as H-2A workers,” said Benjamin Holt, the workers’ attorney with SMLS. “Similarly, when H-2A workers stand up against employers who violate their rights and refuse to tolerate depressed wages and sub-standard working conditions, American workers also benefit.”

The federal H-2A program allows farmers to request temporary visas for foreign workers when sufficient American labor cannot be found. The visas, however, place specific restrictions on employers – workers can work solely for the applying employer, and only for jobs specified in the H-2A application. Additionally, H-2A workers are guaranteed certain minimum wages and benefits so that the domestic labor force will not be adversely affected by the presence of guestworkers.

“Historically, H-2A workers come from poor, rural areas in Mexico and incur large debts to cover the visa, recruitment, and transportation costs associated with getting an H-2A visa,” Holt said. “They take these risks based on promises made by employers and the hope of being able to provide better lives for their families. Unfortunately, employers are also aware of H-2A workers’ desperate economic situation and many know that it will provide them with a more docile workforce, especially since the visa doesn’t permit workers to change employers when their rights are violated.”