Washington rancher agrees to settle labor lawsuit for $110,000

A trio of former employees will receive a total of $110,000 in a settlement stemming from a 2011 lawsuit alleging mistreatment at the hands of a Centerville rancher. Elvis Ruiz, Francisco Javier Castro and Eduardo Martinez, who all came from Chile on H-2A temporary work visas to work as sheepherders, claimed rancher Max Fernandez illegally underpaid them for work, failed to provide adequate food, restricted outside communication, withheld wages and threatened deportation if they left his ranch. The settlement, signed Sept. 25, does not include an admission of liability on the part of Fernandez or the Western Range Association, the agency that recruited the workers from Chile and was also named in the suit. Fernandez’s lawyer, Gary Lofland, said there was no merit to the allegations. “Mr. Fernandez disputes all claims in the lawsuit, but simply thought the opportunity to settle was a prudent business decision,” Lofland said. Neither Lofland nor the WRA’s lawyer, Larry Williams, would say how much of the settlement money came from Fernandez and how much from the association. Both parties paid some amount, Lofland said. The WRA’s position was that it was not a legitimate target of the suit. The association agreed to the settlement for financial reasons and does not believe the violations occurred, Williams said...more