Two mushroom farms in Half Moon Bay, where seven people were killed in a mass shooting, owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in back wages to workers and accused many of them of living illegally in trash-infested trailers and shipping containers. and mold. and insects, announced the United States Department of Labor.
California Terra Gardens and Concord Farms must pay more than $450,000 to 62 workers, plus more than $71,000 in fines to the U.S. Treasury, the agency said in a statement, after completing an investigation that found workers were underpaid and They did not receive overtime pay. and sometimes they were not paid for working outside of business hours.
At both farms, workers and their families were housed in filthy, infested and overcrowded conditions, with many living in illegal homes made of shipping containers, garages and dilapidated trailers, according to the investigation, conducted by the Wage and Hour Division of the department.
“Our investigation found that workers at California Terra Gardens and Concord Farms were housed in disgusting conditions, forced to sleep near garbage and with insects everywhere,” said Alberto Raymond, deputy district director of the wage and hour division of the Work Department. “The Department of Labor is determined to hold employers accountable when they ignore their legal responsibilities to provide adequate housing when necessary and pay workers all legally earned wages for the hard work they perform under difficult conditions.”
The discovery comes more than a year after prosecutors said Chunli Zhao, 67, shot his co-workers with a handgun. Zhao, who is still awaiting trial, was working at Terra Gardens at the time and had previously worked at Concord Farms.
Authorities said the deadly shooting occurred after a supervisor told Zhao he would have to pay $100 for damaged equipment.
The shooting on January 23, 2023 drew attention to the living conditions of workers at both farms.
At California Terra Gardens, investigators found that 39 workers had been living in cramped shipping containers, dilapidated trailers and garages that had been used as living quarters, according to the Department of Labor.
Workers were exposed to insects and trash in the illegal homes, authorities said. The farm's owners, Xianmin Guan and his wife, Liming Zhu, also deducted money from the workers' salaries to make them live in illegal housing. Officials at Concord Farms and California Terra Gardens could not be reached for comment.
At Concord Farms, investigators discovered that an old greenhouse was used as a home for workers, where they were exposed to mold and insects.
The agency found that workers were not paid for all of their work hours, including overtime and time spent on tasks outside of work hours.
Concord Farms agreed to pay $370,107 in overtime wages and liquidated damages to 10 workers, the agency said, as well as $4,242 in back wages to 23 workers. The farm also had to pay $29,049 in fines for the violations.
California Terra Gardens agreed to pay $84,074 to 39 workers to recover fees they paid for illegal housing, and $42,494 in fines.
Last week, Half Moon Bay planning commissioners approved a new building designed for low-income older farmworkers. The project is expected to add 40 homes.
Although the project was already underway before the mass shooting, it took on new urgency after the killings.
The plan was delayed in hours-long meetings at the city's planning commission, prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to publicly urge city officials to move forward with the plan. He warned that the state agency that enforces housing laws “would take all necessary steps to hold Half Moon Bay accountable” if the project did not move forward.
