Arizona Public Radio | Your Source for NPR News
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Federal Lawsuit Alleges Workers Underpaid, Housed in Squalor

Courtesy

The federal government says an Arizona farm has kept temporary Mexican workers in squalid conditions and paid them only a fraction of what they're owed.

The Department of Labor filed a lawsuit against G Farms in El Mirage, located just northwest of Phoenix, last week. A judge was scheduled to hear arguments on Tuesday.

The department alleges that G Farms housed about 70 workers here on a visa in a dangerous and unsanitary encampment composed of school buses, semitrailers, a cargo container and a shed.

An attorney G farms said the allegations were overblown and inaccurate and that the farm has already placed workers in a hotel and apartments.

Attorney Rick Mahrle said he wouldn't be arguing against a government request for a temporary restraining order and that the farm would comply with all regulations.

 

Related Content