A Washington farm labor contractor was fined $692,750 for alleged worker-protection violations involving nearly 1,200 farmworkers, Washington state labor regulators announced Wednesday.
The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries cited Superbee Contracting, of Moxee, Washington, on June 16 for six violations at 15 farms in Benton, Yakima, Walla Walla and Franklin counties in Washington, as well as in Hermiston, Oregon.
L&I said Superbee failed to provide the required written information on work locations, crops, job duties, housing, transportation and pay to 702 workers and provided only partial information to another 487 employees. The agency also said the company failed to prove it provided pay statements, transported workers without required liability insurance and hired an unlicensed farm labor contractor.
The agency said its investigation found Superbee falsely stated on a licensing application that it did not transport workers and failed to disclose that the owner of Harvest Plus LLC had a financial interest in Superbee.
L&I said Superbee is no longer believed to be operating. Esther Carrillo, of Moxee, is listed as the company’s owner. The company has 30 days to appeal the violations and penalties.
The citation is separate from a federal farmworker exploitation case involving Giovanna Sierra Carrillo, Superbee’s controller and business agent. Ms. Carrillo pleaded guilty in April to fraud in contracting foreign laborers and aggravated identity theft tied to her work with Harvest Plus. She is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 24 in U.S. District Court in Richland, Washington, according to the agency.