Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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HARTFORD -- The U.S. Department of Labor has filed lawsuits against a Connecticut nursery and a North Carolina farm labor contractor alleging violations of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The suits were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut and name as defendants Griffin Land & Nurseries Inc. doing business as Imperial Nurseries of Granby, Conn., and Pro-Tree Forestry Services LLC and William L. Forero-Rozo of New Bern, N.C.

The suit against Pro-Tree Forestry, which also operates out of Tallahassee, Fla., and Forero-Rozo alleges, among other violations, that they violated MSPA and the FLSA by failing to properly pay migrant or seasonal agricultural workers; employing uncertified farm labor contractors; failing to obtain approval to use a particular van to transport migrant or seasonal agricultural workers; failing to obtain approval to use rental housing in Hartford, Conn., to house migrant workers; and failing to maintain proper payroll information and provide payroll statements to the workers.

The suit against Griffin Land & Nurseries Inc. alleges that the company violated MSPA by failing to pay, when due, all wages owed to the migrant or seasonal agricultural workers, and violating, without justification, the terms of working arrangements with those workers.

The defendants in both suits are alleged to have violated the FLSA by failing to pay workers at least the applicable minimum wage.

The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least the applicable minimum wage as well as one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for hours worked over 40 per week. The law also requires that accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment be maintained. The MSPA provides similar and additional protections for temporary agricultural workers.

Both Labor Department suits ask the court to prohibit the defendants from violating the MSPA and FLSA in the future and to order them to pay 27 workers back wages due, plus an equal amount in liquidated damages.

The Hartford, Conn., district office of the department’s Wage and Hour Division conducted the investigation and the suits were 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 help line 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 Chao v. Pro-Tree Forestry Services LLC and William L. Forero-Rozo; Civil Action Number 3:07-CV-499-WWE

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