Minnesota AG Keith Ellison sues Evergreen Acres Dairy, alleging $3M in wage theft, substandard housing conditions
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Attorney General's office says a rural Minnesota dairy operation exploited workers by allegedly withholding their pay and providing substandard and unsanitary on-site housing.
Attorney General Keith Ellison announced the lawsuit Monday against Paynesville-based Evergreen Acres Dairy. He says EAD employs hundreds of people at its locations in Redwood and Stearns counties, with many of them "unauthorized workers from Mexico who speak limited or no English."
He says the farms' owners systematically deprived its employees of "wages they earned by shaving both regular and overtime hours from workers' paychecks, not paying wages owed at the beginning and end of workers' employment, and by unlawfully deducting rent for the on-site housing."
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The suit also claims EAD's owners have destroyed timecards and falsified pay stubs to hide the company's illegal practices, while its employees work "12-hour shifts at least six days per week."
"Evergreen has exploited the vulnerabilities of these workers to deny them their wages by systematically underreporting the number of hours that workers were (putting) on their paystubs, often shaving off 12-32 hours from each two-week pay period," Ellison said.
Ellison also alleges the living conditions company employees endured "violate the most basic health and safety standards," with units containing mildew, insect infestations, and no heat or windows in some cases.
"(The residences) are frankly not within the bounds of human decency," Ellison said.
The lawsuit also claims one of EAD's owners, Keith Schaefer, assaulted an injured employee and threatened to fire and evict him if he didn't get back to work.
The owners also allegedly pressured employees not to report any issues, as complaints were also met with threats.
Ellison says this is one of the largest enforcement actions to fight wage theft in his office's history.
"It should send a message that we will fight wage theft to make sure that every worker in Minnesota takes home every penny that they have earned," Ellison said.
RELATED: Wage theft often goes unpunished despite state systems meant to combat it
Ellison says tips from concerned community members started the investigation, and dozens of employees came forward to provide crucial testimony.
The decision on whether to file criminal charges will be up to the counties where the farms operate, but the state is seeking restitution and damages on behalf of employees, along with civil penalties for EAD.
Workers with concerns about systemic violations of wage laws can find more information on how to proceed via the attorney general's website.
