Signet, a Texas-based company that specializes in agriculture construction services, received a summary judgment win in Wisconsin June 26 in a Fair Labor Standards Act case involving overtime pay for foreign workers with visas for temporary agriculture work.
Lead plaintiff Jose Ageo Luna Vanegas filed his lawsuit in January 2021, seeking overtime pay for himself and others similarly situated who performed work building commercial egg production housing for hens in Wisconsin.
The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson, who wrote in granting Signet summary judgment that the work the plaintiffs were seeking overtime for fell under an FLSA exemption for agricultural work.
The ruling means Signet can continue to use the H-2A visa program for workers constructing livestock facilities. The plaintiffs had argued the work should fall under the H-2B visa program, which falls outside FLSA’s agricultural exemption.
The CEO of Signet issued a statement after the ruling.
“This case was never about avoiding our responsibilities as an employer. It was about protecting the ability to provide American agriculture with a reliable, skilled workforce while preserving meaningful opportunities for the people who make our work possible,” Greg Schonefeld said. “Many of our H-2A employees have been with us for years, and agricultural producers across the industry stepped forward in support because they recognized what was at stake — not only for Signet, but for the farms and contractors that rely on this workforce every day.”
Signet offered, and on June 27 the plaintiffs’ accepted, an offer of judgment that would pay out between $42,000 and $62,000 each to five named plaintiffs and $528,154 in attorney fees. A judgment to that effect, allocating a total of $800,000, was entered by the court July 2.
The plaintiffs are represented by Daniel Bonnett, Jennifer Kroll, Michael Licata, Susan Martin and Andrew Kendall of Martin & Bonnet, David Zoeller and Natalie Gerloff of Hawks Quindel and Edward Tuddenham of New York.
Signet is represented by Daniel Pipitone, Emily Means, Bayley Estep, Michael Harvey, and Nolan Knight of Munsch Hardt Kopf and Harr.
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