The U.S. Department of Labor recovered $159,256 in unpaid wages after an investigation uncovered that a potato farm in Idaho shortchanged its workers.
Jorgensen Management Inc. of Bancroft was assessed $25,430 in civil penalties as a result of the investigation, according to a Feb. 22 news release from the DOL. The probe found that Jorgensen intentionally violated provisions of the H-2A Guest Worker program, stating that the company failed to pay the required rates for 69 domestic workers as well as H-2A guest workers. The company also failed to give the H-2A workers three-quarters of the hours guaranteed in their contracts and didn’t reimburse workers for inbound transportation costs, the release stated.
“By threatening and shortchanging some of the lowest paid workers in our nation, Jorgensen Management showed a willful disregard for the law,” said Carrie Aguilar, Wage and Hour district director in the DOL’s Portland office. “They created a toxic workplace and victimized these vulnerable workers.”
In addition to the wage violations, the probe also found that Jorgensen violated the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act by not meeting mandatory housing safety and health standards, failing to disclose all of the conditions of employment, not giving wage statements to its workers and not paying wages when they were due.
The investigation also uncovered that Jorgensen used threats and intimidation to exploit the workers.
