YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — A federal judge has granted class-action status to a lawsuit filed by Yakima Valley farm workers who contend a Los Angeles-based labor contractor illegally and intentionally displaced them with workers from Thailand.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Leavitt ruled that the three plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit may proceed on behalf of an estimated 600 farm workers allegedly denied work when Global Horizons Manpower imported workers from Thailand under the federal H-2A guest-worker program in 2004.
Translation: The company is being sued because it replaced workers (some of whom were illegal) with legal workers.
The company should be able to hire and fire whoever it wants to unless it gives up that right (in case of union extortion)
Attorneys for Global Horizons had argued that the definition of the proposed class was vague and imprecise. They also argued that 264 members of the class should not be counted because they presented Social Security numbers that didn't match federal records.
In his ruling Friday, Leavitt rejected Global's argument, finding that the immigration status of the plaintiffs doesn't provide a basis for excluding them from the class.
Translation: Even though they did not have authority to work in the united states - they have the right to work.
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