Continental Floral Greens, a producer of holiday wreaths and greens that supplies many retailers, Target Trader Joe’s, Costco, and Walmart, will pay $1.85M in back wages and damages to seasonal migrant visa workers when the Department of Labor found that the company failed to pay overtime wages and for violating the rights of those workers.
The Wage and Hour Division of the DOL opened an investigation after an accident in Cowlitz County in Washington state when 4 Salvadoran workers were seriously injured and taken to the hospital. Washington State Patrol charged the driver for negligent driving. The driver lacked certification to drive the vehicle. The van held 14 workers, many of whom were not wearing seatbelts, as required by law.
Exploiting migrant workers
The WHD also found that the company violated the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection (MSPA) Act, failing to inform workers of their employment conditions, not providing complete wage statements, not paying wages when due, not ensuring safe housing, and not providing safe transportation.
The company also violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by not paying required overtime for over 40 hours per week. In addition, the company violated the H-2B worker program that allowed them to bring visa workers to the U.S. by providing fraudulent information on the job orders.
Federal court orders penalties
In March, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Tacoma entered a court order and consent judgment requiring the company to pay $888,000 in back wages and an equal amount in damages to hundreds of migrant workers for the FLSA violations. The company will also pay an additional $74,000 to the workers for MSPA violations. In addition, a $40,000 penalty is assessed to the company to be paid to the DOL.
“Federal law requires employers hiring workers from outside the U.S. on temporary non-agricultural visas to ensure safe working conditions and pay the legal prevailing wage, including overtime. Employers must also accurately represent the terms and conditions of those jobs so that U.S. workers have a full and fair opportunity to work those jobs. Continental Floral failed on all counts,” added Regional Solicitor of Labor Marc Pilotin in San Francisco.
This should remind all businesses that violating federal laws pertaining to wages is much most expensive than simply paying employees properly the first time.
Continental Floral Greens has facilities and management offices in California, Florida, North Carolina, Oregon, and Washington.
According to Zoominfo, it has an annual revenue of $20.3M. Its LinkedIn page shows that it has 201 to 500 employees. On its career page on their website, it says, “people are our greatest asset.” One of their core values is to “do the right thing.” Too bad it took the Department of Labor to make them live up to their principles.
Dawn Brotherton is a Sr. Staff Writer at The American Genius with an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Central Oklahoma. She is an experienced business writer with over 10 years of experience in SEO and content creation. Since 2017, she has earned $60K+ in grant writing for a local community center, which assists disadvantaged adults in the area.
