Migrant workers sue farm company, allege misrepresentation

McALLEN -- Four migrant workers took their case against an Indiana-based farm company to court Tuesday, alleging its representatives lied about working conditions to lure them into jobs.

In a lawsuit filed in March, the men claim Lord's Seed Inc. misrepresented the amount of money they would be paid, the housing they would be provided and the amount of work available for jobs done in the company's corn fields in Michigan and Indiana.

When they arrived they found less work than they were promised and lodging that did not meet federal standards, the document states.

"They were housed in a motel - four or five to a room," said Nathaniel Cartwright Norton, an attorney with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid who is representing the workers. "They weren't treated like other hotel guests. They weren't allowed to go to the lobby or to the ice machines."

During Tuesday's court hearing, U.S. District Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa found the men had provided enough evidence to let the case go forward and set another hearing date for later this summer.

Lord's Seed's attorney, Rex Leach, has not yet filed an answer to the farmworkers' claims. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

But this is not the first time the company has been sued under similar charges. In 2006, another group of four Rio Grande Valley farmworkers sued the company in federal court in Indiana, claiming they were housed in a two-story residence infested with cockroaches and spiders. The home also flooded often and had no working toilet, court documents state.

That case was settled out of court last year.

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Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.