LAKELAND (Florida) LEDGER

January 14, 2010

Polk County Migrant Workers Settle Class Action Wage Suit

By Kyle Kennedy
THE LEDGER

TAMPA | A class action settlement has been approved in a lawsuit on behalf of migrant workers who contended they were underpaid while picking citrus in Polk County.

The settlement, approved Wednesday in federal court, includes a total payment of $56,500 for up to 166 individuals who worked for LaBelle-based Bryan Paul Citrus during the 2006-07 harvest season.

The workers, who were hired from Mexico to pick citrus in the Lake Wales area using temporary employment visas, were not paid a minimum wage of $8.56 per hour as required by their contracts, the Fair Labor Standards Act and state law, according to court filings.

The lawsuit also alleged that Bryan Paul manipulated payroll records and failed to reimburse workers for travel expenses. The workers were hired for Bryan Paul by N&R Services.

Bryan Paul officials agreed to the settlement but have not admitted fault in the case. Stephen Senn, a lawyer for Bryan Paul, confirmed the settlement details Wednesday but said the company had no comment.

The workers were represented by the Migrant Farmworker Justice Project, an advocacy group that is part of the Florida Legal Services legal aid organization.

The Migrant Farmworker Justice Project did not seek and will not receive lawyer fees as part of the settlement, said Alejandro Reyes, a lawyer representing workers in the lawsuit.

"This was a fair reasonable result for our clients," Reyes told The Ledger. "The sums may not seem large, but for workers in Mexico who earn the U.S. equivalent of $10 a day, the money will have an impact."