SAN MARCOS — The U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division has ordered a farm in San Marcos to pay a total of $247,674 in employee back pay and civil penalties, after the farm illegally required laborers to pay rent for unsafe housing conditions.
The subject of the enforcement is Lucky Growers, Inc., which operates along Quarry Road just north of the Twin Oaks area in San Marcos. Lucky Growers was founded in 2005 and later expanded to include Girl & Dug Farm, which has locations in San Marcos and in Portland, Oregon.
Lucky Growers and Girl & Dug provide produce to restaurants and Korean retail markets nationwide.
The department’s Wage and Hour Division discovered during a housing safety inspection that Lucky Growers was providing unsanitary housing to 30 agricultural workers and illegally charging them rent, according to a Dec. 15 press release.
This housing included “structural damage, mold, insect and rodent infestation, rooms with makeshift or missing doors and propane tanks, and spaces with missing lighting,” and lacked fire extinguishers, functional smoke detectors, and first aid kits.
Lucky Growers also failed to provide workers with the required information related to job and housing conditions before employment, according to the department.
“Farmworkers provide essential labor that helps feed millions of Americans, and they have rights that are federally protected,” said Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Emily Eckstein in San Diego. “Lucky Growers failed to meet its legal requirements for employing agricultural workers. The Wage and Hour Division remains committed to protecting farmworkers and holding accountable employers who violate the law.”
The farm was ordered to pay $171,400 in back wages to reimburse laborers for their rent payments, and $76,274 in civil penalties for violations of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.
The Coast News left a message with Lucky Growers requesting a comment.
