Two California mushroom farms – one of which was the site of a workplace shooting by a disgruntled employee that resulted in the deaths of seven migrant workers – will pay nearly $530,000 in back wages and damages following an investigation for unsafe housing conditions.
The U.S. Department of Labor on Monday announced the financial recovery against Half Moon Bay, California-based California Terra Gardens and Union City-based Concord Farms Inc.
The settlements were reached with the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division and followed an inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in which investigators discovered 39 migrant workers housed in cramped cargo containers, garages and dilapidated trailers at California Terra Gardens, the site of the January 2023 shooting.
The workers were discovered sleeping on dirty mattresses and were exposed to trash and insects, the DOL said.
Investigators also discovered workers at Concord Farms housed in “moldy, makeshift rooms in a greenhouse infested with insects,” the DOL stated.
During the investigations, the Wage and Hour Division discovered that Concord Farms’ owner, Grace Tung, violated federal regulations by failing to pay workers for all hours worked, including overtime and off-the-clock work, the DOL said.
Concord Farms will pay more than $403,000 in damages and California Terra Gardens will pay more than $126,000.