Following a settlement agreement, a Nebraska federal court on March 19 dismissed a lawsuit filed by 13 migrant farmworkers from South Texas who spent the summer of 2017 detasseling corn in Nebraska.
The farmworkers worked in Nebraska for roughly four weeks. They sued two defendants they alleged were their employers: Monsanto Co. and Gulf Citrus Harvesting and Hauling Inc.
The suit, filed in April 2020, alleged the defendants violated the workers’ federal and state employment rights and breached their work contracts when they worked in Nebraska. Both defendants denied the plaintiffs’ claims.
The terms of the January 27 settlement are confidential. Given the cost of litigation, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, the parties believe a compromise was the best way to resolve the dispute. The dispute was resolved to the mutual satisfaction of all parties. In reaching the Court-approved compromise, neither defendant admitted to any violation of law.
Legal Aid of Nebraska and Texas RioGrande Legal Aid represented the migrant agricultural workers. The legal aid organizations specialize in enforcing the employment rights of migrant and seasonal agricultural workers.
Laura Jordan of Thompson Coburn LLP and David Stefany of the law firm Allen Norton and Blue represented the defendants