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Crime, Law and Justice
Kirsti Marohn

Paynesville dairy farm to pay $250,000 to settle wage-theft claim

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A central Minnesota dairy farm will pay $250,000 to settle a wage-theft claim made by the state attorney general's office.

Attorney General Keith Ellison filed the lawsuit in January against Evergreen Acres in Paynesville. It alleged Evergreen stole wages from low-income farm workers by shaving hours from their paychecks.

It also accused the dairy farm of providing substandard housing for workers, including converted barns and buildings with no on-site bathrooms.

As part of the settlement filed in Stearns County District Court, Evergreen will pay $250,000 in back wages to workers and continue to bring employee housing up to standard. The attorney general's office will monitor Evergreen for three years and inspect its housing and wage records.

If Evergreen violates the settlement terms, it could face an additional $250,000 penalty.

“Today, we send a strong message that dairy farms like Evergreen and all employers in Minnesota cannot illegally profit off the backs of workers,” Ellison said in a news release.

“This settlement not only protects agricultural workers from exploitation, it also protects other producers who follow the rules from being undercut by competitors that aren’t paying employees what they’re owed under the law.”

The company also committed to allowing workers access to legal services and providing them with proper documentation of their pay and hours.

According to the lawsuit, many Evergreen workers are immigrants from Mexico who speak little or no English.

Ellison praised the “courageous” workers who came forward to report the company. Without them, the investigation and settlement would not have happened, he said.