Major Court Victory for Migrant Forestry Workers

Newsletters - Spring 2010 Newsletter

In one of the largest settlements of its kind, an Arkansas forestry company has agreed to pay $2.75 million to settle the legal claims of foreign guestworkers who say they were cheated out of the wages they earned planting trees for the company.

Superior Forestry Service Inc.’s agreement to pay more than 2,200 guestworkers makes this one of the largest settlements ever reached under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of the workers by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Farmworker Justice, the Legal Aid Justice Center and attorneys from two Chicago-based private law firms: Willenson Law, LLC and Hughes, Socol, Piers, Resnick & Dym.

Superior Forestry is one of the largest forestry contractors in the United States.

Farmworker Justice contributed substantially to this class action case, with extensive worker by Litigation Coordinator Marni Willenson, who recently returned to private practice. This litigation is another example of the vital role FJ plays in remedying and deterring labor law violations and aiding vulnerable guestworkers.

Weeun Wang to Lead Farmworker Justice Litigation Team< Prev   Next >New Chair, Vice Chair of Farmworker Justice Board of Directors