Guadalupe’s Apio Inc. recently reached a proposed $5.9 million joint settlement with several employees who claimed the vegetable shipping company had abused workers’ rights.
The class action suit against Apio, a company contracted by Pacific Harvest Inc., claims the company failed to provide appropriate rest and meal times to workers, while also failing to pay minimum and overtime wages, resulting in incorrect employee bank statements. The original suit against Apio was filed in September 2015, according to prosecutor Stan Mallison, followed by another in May 2016.
The settlement proposal was reached in July of this year after a negotiation between both parties reached the conclusion that a court trial could be risky for each side, according to court documents. The proposed settlement will be approved or denied at a final court hearing, which Mallison said has not been set.
Although each suit was brought forth by a relatively small number of workers, Mallison said the proposed settlement represents about 6,000 Apio employees, who all hope to receive a share of the proposed settlement.
Apio’s alleged abuse was brought to light in 2014 when current and former employees protested the company’s working conditions and rallied to unionize. The majority of employees, however, voted against union representation in December 2014. The National Labor Relations Board finalized the results of the votes two months later.
Despite this vote, Mallison said Guadalupe workers are still unionizing and should consider the proposed settlement a step in the right direction.
“I think it’s a fair, reasonable settlement,” Mallison said. “It’s good the company is going to move on and get past this issue. I think that’s productive.”
Apio’s legal counsel could not be reached for comment.
This article appears in Aug 17-24, 2017.