A central Minnesota dairy farm will pay $250,000 to settle charges brought by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison that the business stole wages from workers and housed employees, including many Hispanic immigrants, in squalid bunkhouses, some without toilets.
Minnesota dairy farm settles wage theft, poor worker housing charges for $250K
The settlement reached with Attorney General Keith Ellison also includes three years of monitoring for the Evergreen Acres Dairy, whose employees were primarily immigrants.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
October 3, 2024 at 8:56PM
The terms of the settlement, entered into Stearns County District Court on Thursday, also ensure Evergreen Acres Dairy in Paynesville will be subject to monitoring for three years by Ellison’s office and could be on the hook for possible future penalties if the company violates employee labor and housing laws.
The dairy also is required to provide access for workers to legal services and post written notices in English and Spanish for wage deductions.
“Today we send a strong message that dairy farms like Evergreen and all employers in Minnesota cannot illegally profit off the backs of workers,” said Ellison in a statement. “If it weren’t for the courageous workers who came forward — despite Evergreen’s threats — to hold this company accountable, we would have never been able to investigate this case and achieve this settlement agreement.”
Evergreen admitted no wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
The lawsuit named Evergreen Acres Dairy, and also Evergreen Estates, Morgan Feedlots Inc., dairy owner Keith Schaefer and his daughter, Megan Hill. An attorney for Evergreen Acres did not respond to a request for comment.
In January, Ellison filed suit against the dairy seeking $3 million in back wages and said the employers illegally housed an immigrant workforce in more than a half-a-dozen rental properties across Stearns County. According to documents filed in court, properties lacked heat or windows, and had mold on walls and ceilings.
The AG’s office alleged in court that farm employees threatened retaliation against workers — many of them immigrants from Oaxaca, Mexico — who spoke out. They also destroyed documents once evicted employees began speaking to community activists, who later reached out to state officials.
Ma Elena Gutierrez, faith and justice director with Fe y Justicia, a community organization in Waite Park, said she was elated to hear news of the settlement. However, she believes the payment should be larger for the workers. She described the living conditions as horrible.
She hoped the suit could help other central Minnesota dairy farms that rely on immigrant labor “to be conscious of what they are doing to the workers.”
“It’s jobs for the workers. We got milk on the table. We have cheese,” Gutierrez said. “But let’s work together. Don’t be like that. We are humans. We have feelings.”
In a filing with the court on Thursday, the settlement notes Evergreen’s payment would forestall a “protracted litigation.”
In March, the dairy had agreed to upgrade the housing conditions and to pay stipulations, according to court papers filed at the time.
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