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Louisiana farm ordered to pay $12K in civil penalties, debarred from H-2A program participation for threatening farmworkers, denying them water [ http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20240930-0 ] 09/30/2024 08:00 AM EDT
ROSEDALE, LA – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a court order assessing the operator of a Rosedale farm $12,000 in civil money penalties and preventing the Louisiana employers from applying for H-2A certification to bring foreign workers to the U.S. to fill temporary or seasonal agricultural jobs for one year, after investigators found the farm’s operator intimidated and threatened workers in violation of the law. Entered Aug. 16, 2024, by the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges, the consent decree is the latest result of a June 2021 investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division of Rivet & Sons LLC, a sugar cane and soybean farm near Baton Rouge. During its investigation, the division learned the farm’s operator denied H-2A workers in the fields adequate water. After learning workers had asked his son for assistance, Glynn Rivet - then the farm’s owner - screamed obscenities, pointed handguns at the workers and fired shots in retaliation. The business’ ownership has since been transferred to Brent Rivet and Clinton S. Rivet. “This case’s resolution reflects the Wage and Hour Division’s commitment to protecting the nation’s vulnerable workforce, including agricultural workers,” said Wage and Hour Southwest Regional Administrator Betty Campbell in Dallas. “We will not tolerate retaliation against, punishing or blacklisting of employees because they exercise their rights under the law.”In October 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana in Baton Rouge ordered Glynn Rivet to pay $75,000 in back wages and forbid him from violating the H-2A program’s anti-retaliation provisions. The court also ordered Glynn Rivet not to communicate with any of his current, former and prospective workers; not to come within 1,500 feet of any worker; not to carry any firearm within 1,500 feet of any worker; and not to enter worker housing and the fields where employees work.  In a separate investigation, the Department assessed $13,926 in civil money penalties for the company’s failure to comply with field sanitation requirements.“The U.S. Department of Labor will work tirelessly to protect the rights of H-2A workers, including their rights to basic needs such as water, meals and field sanitation facilities without fear of abuse or retaliation from their employers,” said Regional Solicitor John Rainwater in Denver. “Let this case demonstrate that the department will stay the course to ensure the rights of these workers are not violated.”For more information about the H-2A program and agricultural labor laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’s toll-free helpline confidentially at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.Download the agency’s new Timesheet App, which is available in English and Spanish for Android and Apple devices, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.        U.S. Department of Labor V. Rivet & Sons, and LLC Clinton Rivet, IndividuallyOALJ Case No. 2021-TNE-00011 body { font-size: 1em; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; color: #333333; }
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