A federal appeals court has awarded nearly $2 million to more than 600 Latino farm workers who accused a farm labor contractor and two Yakima Valley growers of violating federal labor laws.
The local farm workers claimed that Valley Fruit Orchards and Green Acre Farms illegally and intentionally displaced them by hiring Los Angeles-based Global Horizons to bring in workers from Thailand in 2004.
U.S. District Judge Robert Whaley in Yakima awarded $237,000 in statutory damages to the workers in 2009, which was to be paid by Global Horizons.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision on Wednesday. The court found that the workers were entitled to damages of nearly $2 million and that Global Horizons and the growers were jointly liable.
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