SEATTLE — A Sunnyside mushroom farm will pay $3.4 million for violating the civil rights of its workers following a lawsuit filed in 2022, according to Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson.
Ferguson filed the lawsuit in Yakima County Superior Court in August 2022 after an investigation revealed that the owner of the farm, Ostrom Mushroom Farms, had been discriminating against its workers based on their sex and immigration status for over a year.
Ferguson said the $3.4 million will be used to compensate the more than 170 farmworkers who are eligible for compensation.
“I want to thank the workers who spoke out against this discrimination in the face of so much danger and stood up for their rights," said Ferguson.
The Attorney General's Office said Ostrom's "systematic discrimination was calculated" to force out women from its Washington-based workforce, in violation of the Washington Law Against Discrimination. Before April 2021, women made up 87% of the farm's workforce.
The AG's office said Ostrom wanted to replace the women with foreign men guest workers because the women had childcare obligations and couldn't work late hours or on the weekends. The guest workers were hired through the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Program, which allows employers to hire seasonal agricultural workers who come to the U.S. alone, leaving their families behind.
"It's clear that Ostrom engaged in systemic, blatant discrimination calculated to force out female employees so they could replace them with guest workers who they believed, importantly, they believed they could better control and require them to work longer hours with fewer rights," said Ferguson.
Ostrom came up with reasons to discipline and ultimately fire and refuse employment to the women, according to the AG's office. The investigation found Ostrom also retaliated when workers complained about the mistreatment.
The investigation also revealed Ostrom violated the Washington Consumer Protection Act after it placed job advertisements that misrepresented work requirements and wages.
"I was working for the company for two years and a half and all of a sudden they decided that they did not want women working there," said former worker Javita Bustamante. "I was crying and very sad for days just thinking about how they left me without a job from one day to the other. I want to give thanks in the name of all of the women that were discriminated."
During the lawsuit, Ostrom sold the mushroom farm to Windmill Farms. As a result of the lawsuit, a court order requires Windmill Farms to take measures to protect employees from future discrimination.
Ferguson said his office has contact information for the impacted employees but asks If you worked at Ostrom and believe you should be part of this claims process, to contact the Civil Rights Division by emailing ostrom@atg.wa.gov or by calling 1-833-660-4877 and selecting Option 5.