December 19, 2009
A lawsuit filed by 23 migrant farmworkers ended with a mistrial.
Armando Arevalo and 22 other farm workers from the Rio Grande Valley sued J&D produce back in November 2008.
The case went to trial before U.S. District Court Judge Randy Crane in McAllen last week but ended on Wednesday with a deadlocked jury.
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December 17, 2009
After about seven months of legal wrangling, an Arkansas farm owner has settled a lawsuit filed by four Mexican migrant workers over alleged abuses suffered at his farm.
The guest-workers were employed at Odom Farms in Austin, Arkansas from 2006 to 2008. Represented by Southern Migrant Legal Services, a project of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, the workers alleged that Farmer Jack Odom brought them to the United States for work; forced them to live in a packing shed; failed to reimburse travel costs as required by law, and then confiscated their passports in order to keep them at the farm. Attorney Sarah Donaldson says these actions violated several laws including the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Immigration and Nationality Act.
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December 16, 2009
A Lonoke County farmer has settled a lawsuit in which four migrant workers claimed mistreatment while participating in a guest worker program.
The attorney for the workers did not disclosed a dollar amount but said the settlement covered the workers’ work, travel and pain and suffering.
“We hope this settlement sends a message to the growers that if you are going to compete unfairly and use the guest worker program but not follow its rules there are consequences,” said Sarah Donaldson, an attorney with the Nashville, Tenn.-based Southern Migrant Legal Services, which filed the lawsuit in May in U.S. District Court in Little Rock.
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December 15, 2009
Media Contact
Cynthia Martinez, Communications Director
512.374.2764 or cmartinez@trla.org
Sarah Donaldson, Attorney
203.907.5300 or sdonaldson@trla.org
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas – December 15, 2009 – An Arkansas farm owner has settled a lawsuit filed by four Mexican guestworkers over abuses suffered while the workers were employed on an Austin–based farm.
Represented by Southern Migrant Legal Services, the guestworkers alleged that after Jack Odom, owner of Odom Farms, brought them to the United States for work, he confined them to a filthy, infested and dangerous metal packing shed, failed to reimburse travel costs as required by law, and then confiscated their passports in order to keep them at the farm. Their lawsuit, alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, and contract law, was filed in May 2009.
December 14, 2009
Feature Story: Marking 40 Years of ServiceThe end of 2009 comes with many milestones for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA). Not only are we celebrating having helped another 20,000 low-income Texans with their legal issues, but TRLA is marking forty years of helping the poor find justice in the legal system.
From our early days in 1970 to today, TRLA has seen the faces of thousands of domestic violence victims who need our help to save their lives. We have helped thousands of residents with landlords who refuse to fix severely damaged homes, are at risk of being homeless, or are facing foreclosure.We have seen hundreds of parents struggling to find their children who have been taken across international borders, helped countless children subjected to abuse in federal detention centers, and empowered farmworkers to stand up against abusive employers. As we celebrate forty years of service, we once again start planning for the future.
To read this entire story, read the latest edition of the TRLA Times.
Also in this edition of the TRLA Times:
