Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

Printer-Friendly Version

Press Releases

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Griffin Land & Nurseries Inc., doing business as Imperial Nurseries of Granby, Conn., has agreed to pay 27 migrant or seasonal agricultural workers a total of $39,414 in back wages and interest to resolve a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor alleging violations of the federal Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The company also has agreed to pay a civil money penalty of $3,900.

The department’s lawsuit, filed this past April in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, alleged that the company violated MSPA by failing to pay, when due, all wages owed to the migrant or seasonal agricultural workers, as required by the state minimum wage and the federal minimum wage, and violating, without justification, the terms of working arrangements with those workers.

A consent judgment, signed by Judge Janet Bond Arterton, prohibits the defendant from future violations of MSPA and the FLSA. It orders the defendant to pay the 27 workers $37,898 in back wages and $1,516 in interest, which now have been paid. The back wages cover the period between March and June 11, 2006. Griffin Land & Nurseries Inc. agreed to entry of the consent judgment without admitting liability.

The Hartford, Conn., district office of the department’s Wage and Hour Division conducted the investigation and the suit was filed by the department’s Regional Solicitor’s Office in Boston. For more information about the provisions of the MSPA and FLSA, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free helpline at (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

Chao v. Griffin Land & Nurseries Inc. d/b/a Imperial Nurseries Civil Action Number 3:07-CV-500-JBA

###

U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at (202) 693-7828 or TTY (202) 693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit www.dol.gov/compliance.