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Evergreen Acres Dairy to Pay $250K in Wage Theft Settlement

USA 07.10.2024
Source: DairyNews.today
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Minnesota-based Evergreen Acres Dairy has agreed to pay $250,000 in back wages and make significant improvements to its worker housing as part of a settlement with the Minnesota Attorney General's Office. The lawsuit, led by Attorney General Keith Ellison, accused the dairy of underpaying hundreds of workers while subjecting them to unsanitary living conditions, including cockroach-infested housing unfit for human habitation.
Evergreen Acres Dairy to Pay $250K in Wage Theft Settlement
This settlement marks a critical victory in Ellison’s broader campaign against wage theft, an issue he has made central to his office’s enforcement efforts. "Today’s settlement sends a clear message to employers in Minnesota: you cannot illegally profit off the backs of your workers," Ellison stated, adding that the dairy industry must comply with labor laws.

However, the $250,000 settlement is only a fraction of the $3 million that Ellison’s office initially estimated the workers were owed. Fe Y Justicia Worker Center Executive Director, Ma Elena Gutierrez, who supported the workers in bringing their complaints forward, expressed disappointment in the settlement amount, saying, "It’s not justice. The workers deserve more."

The lawsuit, one of the largest wage theft cases pursued by the Attorney General’s Office, revealed alarming allegations beyond wage violations. Workers were reportedly threatened, subjected to inhumane working conditions, and forced to live in unsafe accommodations. In one incident, Evergreen Acres owner Keith Schaefer allegedly threatened to kill an employee who refused to work, citing the recent killing of a dog as a warning to the workforce. Many employees, primarily undocumented immigrants from Oaxaca, Mexico, endured 12-hour shifts while sharing beds due to lack of housing space.

Despite the severity of the allegations, Schaefer and his daughter Megan Hill, co-owners of Evergreen Acres, did not admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement. Criminal charges remain uncertain, as no case has been referred to the Stearns County Attorney’s Office, despite Minnesota’s 2019 law classifying wage theft over $1,000 as a felony.

Under the terms of the settlement, Evergreen Acres will be monitored for three years by the Attorney General’s Office. The dairy must maintain proper payroll records, submit regular reports, and ensure that its housing facilities comply with health and safety standards. This ongoing oversight also extends to the dairy’s related businesses, Evergreen Estates and Morgan Feedlots.

Ellison’s office had earlier secured a temporary injunction in March, which required the dairy to cease charging rent for substandard housing and to hire inspectors to evaluate its accommodations. This legal action emphasizes the heightened scrutiny on employers who exploit vulnerable workers in Minnesota’s agricultural sector, especially those from immigrant communities with limited knowledge of their rights.

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