Federal court forbids Putnam County plant nursery from threatening workers 

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
Print

NEW YORK – The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting a Patterson nursery and garden supply business, and its president from threatening its employees and obstructing a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.

In November 2022, the department’s Wage and Hour Division began an investigation of Berkshire Nursery & Supply Corp. and Jesus Flores, its president, to ensure compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act and the H-2A provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Over the next several weeks, the department alleges, Flores harassed and intimidated employees repeatedly. He threatened workers and their families with physical harm, deportation and blacklisting. Flores also instructed them to lie and provide false information to division investigators.

In response, the department’s Office of the Solicitor obtained a temporary restraining order from the court on January 18 forbidding Flores and Berkshire Nursery & Supply Corp. from violating anti-retaliation provisions of the law or obstructing the case.

The court also requires the employers to permit division representatives to read aloud – in English, Spanish and any other language understood by the majority of employees – a statement describing employees’ FLSA rights during their paid working hours and in the presence of the defendants. The employers must also mail a written statement of the same to current and former employees, and they must provide a written notice to the Wage and Hour Division at least seven days prior to termination of an employee for any reason.




Popular Stories