The owners of two Northern California mushroom farms where a disgruntled employee shot and killed seven people last year will pay more than $450,000 in unpaid wages and damages to 62 employees.
in announcement Announced Monday after an extensive investigation, the U.S. Department of Labor said the payments are part of an administrative settlement reached between the department’s Wage and Hour Division and California Terra Gardens and Concord Farms. .
The government announced that on January 23, 2023, the alleged gunman, 67-year-old Chao Chun-Li, opened fire on two farms in Half Moon Bay, a small community about 30 miles south of San Francisco. It was carried out after an incident in which seven people and workers died. hurt others.
Zhao told investigators that before the shooting, he had gotten into an argument with his boss, who demanded he pay $100 for repairs after a forklift accident, which Zhao claimed was not his fault. Zhao said his colleague intentionally hit the forklift with a bulldozer, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. report. Mr. Zhao, a Chinese national, appealed. Not guilty He was charged with multiple murders.
Mr. Chao previously worked for Concord Farms and later became an employee of California Terra Gardens.
The fatal shooting and a Labor Department investigation revealed that Dangerous working conditions Many migrant farm workers in San Mateo County are receiving it.
“Our investigators found that workers at California Terra Gardens and Concord Farms were housed in uncomfortable conditions, near trash, with insects flying around and forced to sleep with insects all around them,” said Alberto Raymond, assistant district director for the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. statement.
At California Terra Gardens, 39 workers were housed in cramped cargo containers, garages and dilapidated trailers, forced to sleep on filthy mattresses and exposed to insects and trash, an investigation found. It turned out that. According to the Ministry of Labor, the farm’s owner, Xianming Guan and his wife Liming Chu, illegally withheld money from workers’ salaries for poor housing.
At Concord Farms, investigators found that owner Grace Tan was housing workers in moldy makeshift rooms in an insect-infested greenhouse. The Department of Labor said Tan also violated federal regulations by failing to pay workers appropriate overtime wages and treating them unfairly.
As part of the settlement, California Terra Garden agrees to pay a total of $84,074 directly to 39 workers to recover employer illegal housing deductions and resolve housing, wage disclosure, and record-keeping violations. agreed to pay $42,494 in civil penalties.
Meanwhile, Concord Farms agreed to pay overtime and penalties totaling $370,107 to 10 workers and late wages totaling $4,242 to 23 workers. It also agreed to pay a civil penalty of $29,049 to address various violations.
The civil penalties are in addition to more than $450,000 in back wages and damages owed to 62 employees at both farms.
