Farm labor contractor case heads toward appeal

YAKIMA, Wash. -- A federal judge has awarded $1.4 million in legal fees to attorneys representing Latino workers who say they were displaced by Thai workers brought to the Yakima Valley by a labor contractor.

The ruling sets the stage for an appeal by the contractor, Global Horizons of California, to the 9th Circuit of Appeals in San Francisco.

That appeal of the trial verdict, as well as related rulings by Judge Robert Whaley, was delayed until Whaley could rule on the request for attorneys’ fees by Columbia Legal Services and other attorneys.

Whaley issued his ruling March 24 in U.S. District Court in Yakima. The case was filed in 2005.

Because of the appeal, the attorneys’ fees have not been awarded. Neither has about $535,000 awarded to the 650 workers identified for the class-action lawsuit.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys had asked for more than $2 million in legal fees. The judge applied a 20 percent reduction, an accepted practice in order to avoid analzying individual charges.

Global and two farms that used the company — Green Acre Farms of Harrah and Valley Fruit of Wapato — were found guilty of violating state contracting rules. Whaley ruled that Global must pay the entire amount of legal costs.

The companies countersued Global, claiming they wouldn’t have been involved if the contractor’s license was valid. 

The Thai workers allege in a separate lawsuit that they were subjected to substandard working and living conditions that violated the terms of the federal government's guest worker H2-A visa program. 

-- Mark Morey

YAKIMA, Wash. -- A federal judge has awarded $1.4 million in legal fees to attorneys representing Latino workers who say they were displaced by Thai workers brought to the Yakima Valley by a labor contractor.

The ruling sets the stage for an appeal by the contractor, Global Horizons of California, to the 9th Circuit of Appeals in San Francisco.

That appeal of the trial verdict, as well as related rulings by Judge Robert Whaley, was delayed until Whaley could rule on the request for attorneys’ fees by Columbia Legal Services and other attorneys.

Whaley issued his ruling March 24 in U.S. District Court in Yakima. The case was filed in 2005.

Because of the appeal, the attorneys’ fees have not been awarded. Neither has about $535,000 awarded to the 650 workers identified for the class-action lawsuit.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys had asked for more than $2 million in legal fees. The judge applied a 20 percent reduction, an accepted practice in order to avoid analzying individual charges.

Global and two farms that used the company — Green Acre Farms of Harrah and Valley Fruit of Wapato — were found guilty of violating state contracting rules. Whaley ruled that Global must pay the entire amount of legal costs.

The companies countersued Global, claiming they wouldn’t have been involved if the contractor’s license was valid. 

The Thai workers allege in a separate lawsuit that they were subjected to substandard working and living conditions that violated the terms of the federal government's guest worker H2-A visa program. 

-- Mark Morey