• 21
  • April
    2011

Many American companies promise immigrants good working conditions if the immigrants agree to move to the area and start working. Some companies treat immigrant workers well, and they provide the finances the individuals need to build stable lives here.

Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. Some companies in California lure individuals into the state with promises of high wages, visas and living quarters. However, once those individuals start working, they are paid illegally low wages, provided unsafe housing and forbidden to leave.

One federal agency recently filed a lawsuit against a California-based labor company, claiming that the company's Thai workers were subjected to racial discrimination and physical abuse at the hands of their employers.

The company enticed Thai workers by promising them steady jobs and agricultural visas. When the workers arrived, their visas were confiscated, and they were threatened with deportation if they complained about the conditions.

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the human trafficking case is the largest agricultural industry claim that has been handled by the agency.

The lawsuit states that the company subjected the immigrants to "uninhabitable housing, insufficient food and kitchen facilities, inadequate pay, significant gaps in work, visa and certification violations, suspension, deportation, and/or physical violence."

The workers are seeking back pay and up to $300,000 each in damages.

The California-based company is not the only company facing charges. The contracting company recruited individuals and then sent them throughout the country work on agricultural farms.

Read more in the next post to learn about the charges the farms may also face for ignoring the labor conditions of their workers.

Source: The Associated Press, "Agency sues Calif contractor, farms in Thai case," 20 April 2011