SACRAMENTO – Farm workers who were hired to work in a vineyard are suing their employer over allegations of unpaid wages.
Lucaria Tenorio, Francisco Viera, Abel Miranda, Pascuala Saucedo, Cristino Santiago, Lucia Torres, Antonio Torres, Teresa Miranda, Irma Castaneda, Ezequiel Aguilar, Maria Teresa, Carlos Pedro, Artemio Santiago and Maria De Jesus filed a complaint on Feb. 29 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California against Gabriel Gallardo Sr., Manuel Gallardo, Silvia Esther Gallardo, Kern County Cultivation Inc. and Nazar Kooner, citing violations of the Agricultural Workers Protection Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, payment with bad checks and other counts.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that, between March 2015 and June 2015, they did not receive correct wages as well as rest periods throughout their employment. The plaintiffs hold the defendants responsible because they allegedly failed and refused to pay the plaintiffs proper compensation.
The plaintiffs seek the following: compensation for all damages including unpaid wages, legal fees, and any other relief this court deems just and proper. They are represented by Marco A. Palau, Hector R. Martinez, Stan S. Mallison, Eric S. Trabucco and Joseph D. Sutton of Mallison & Martinez in Oakland, Cynthia L. Rice of California Rural Legal Assistance Inc. in Oakland and Michael Meuter and Sahar Durali of California Rural Legal Assistance Inc. in Salinas.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California Case number 1:16-at-00154