Minnesota AG's office negotiates safe living conditions for dairy workers in wage theft case

The Paynesville dairy accused of stealing $3 million from workers housed in allegedly squalid conditions must house workers in sanitary and safe conditions supervised by an inspector, according to a series of stipulations agreed to by Attorney General Keith Ellison and the dairy in a court filing on Monday.

The dairy also agreed to continue paying workers and post written wage notice on the dairy's properties, in both Spanish and English.

Ellison, who is leading the prosecution of Evergreen Acres Dairy and its owners, Keith Schaefer and Megan Hill, called the injunction a win as the lawsuit continues.

"I am fighting to stop Evergreen from illegally profiting off the backs of vulnerable workers and to protect honest dairy farms from being undercut by a business that we allege is breaking the law," Ellison said.

Back in January, Ellison filed civil charges against Evergreen for not only housing workers in what was termed "squalid" conditions — with bunkhouses given names like "Darrin's" and "Machine Lot," some with unfinished walls — but also withholding some $3 million in wages for the workers. Some of the workers had no ready access to a toilet.

Many of the hundreds of workers employed by Evergreen hail from Mexico, according to court documents, and are not authorized to work in the U.S.

In a Feb. 29 response to the charges, attorneys for Evergreen acknowledged that the company recruited workers from Mexico, but denied Ellison's wage theft charges, saying that the dairy's owners had "acted in good faith" to remain in compliance with the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act.

The dairy's attorney acknowledged in the response a few of the details of Ellison's substandard housing charges, saying that while no toilet existed in one employee home, any resident would only "need to walk a short distance to a neighboring building in order to use a toilet."

The Stearns County District Court judge overseeing the case has yet to sign the injunction, which was only submitted in court on Monday. The next court hearing is scheduled for mid-April.