Striving For Justice: Triumphs in
Mississippi Farmworker Discrimination Cases In a noteworthy triumph, 13 Black farmworkers from the Mississippi Delta – TRLA and Mississippi Center for Justice (MCJ)
clients – achieved settlements in lawsuits against two Mississippi Delta farming operations. The lawsuits alleged racial discrimination and misuse of the immigration system by Delta Farms. The workers contended that these farms favored white workers imported from South Africa by paying them more and providing them with greater work hours compared to the Black workers from the Delta.
FARM LABOR VIOLATIONS IN MISSISSIPPI
Investigations that found violations
Farms Investigated
Since 2005, the Department of Labor
has only investigated a small share (less than 1%) of farms in Mississippi. Of those investigations, 81% found violations of labor laws.
1%
81%
The percent of farms investigated uses the state’s estimate of about 34,700 farms in Mississippi. Source: U.S. Department of Labor; Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce.
Courtesy of Mississippi Today
TRLA took action against Pitts Farms and Harris Russell Farms, businesses involved in cotton, soybean, corn, and catfish farm-
ing in Sunflower County. The lawsuits asserted that the farms secured visas for white South African workers by deceitfully assuring the U.S. Department of Labor that local workers would be compensated equally and given preference for job op-
portunities. Maintaining their privacy, the workers and farms agreed to keep the settlement amounts confidential. However, TRLA was determined to convey a message to other employers.
From L to R: Amal Bouhabib, SMLS Director; US Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh; SMLS 2022 summer law clerk Morgan Peck; SMLS 2022 summer law clerk Julio Colby; our co-counsel, Ty Pinkins (then) attorney at Mississippi Center for Justice.
OUR FIGHT 11
