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| Screenshot from monsanto.com |
It’s back
to court for biotech giants Monsanto. This time America’s largest agriculture
corporation is being sued by a group of farmers who say they were promised free
housing but instead were charged thousands and poisoned by pesticides.
Seven
migrant workers from the state of Texas are suing Monsanto after they say the
massive biotech corporation failed to keep their promise. The plaintiffs argue
that they were promised free housing and kitchen access for their families in
exchange for working on a hybrid corn seed project in the state of Indiana, but
instead were milked out of their money and exposed to dangerous chemicals.
Jose
Cardenas, the lead plaintiff in the case, is going after Monsanto and its
recruiter, Milo Inc., as well as that company’s president. Cardenas insists
that Milo Inc. promised the plaintiffs $80 for each acre the farmers detasseled
and would be additionally compensated with housing arrangements. According to
his complaint, however, the pay that was signed over was less than minimum wage
when divided among the crew members.
Courthouse
News Service reports that money problems weren’t all the farmers were poised
with.
"The
motel housing did not comply with substantive federal and state safety and
health standards applicable to agricultural labor housing,” the complaint
reads.Additionally, instead of complimentary accommodations they were forced to
spend $300 per room while on the job.
And the
kitchen? “[T]he kitchen facility provided by the defendants – a school bus in
which about three to four stoves and two refrigerators had been installed – was
substandard."
"Two
or more of the working plaintiffs suffered illness or injuries from suspected
pesticide exposure while working for defendants,” the farmers add.
Attorney
Kathryn Blair Craddock with Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid is representing the
group of seven workers whom are seeking damages under the Agricultural Worker
Protection Act, as well as unpaid wages as promised through the Fair Labor
Standards Act.
Agriculturalists
across America have previously tried to take Monsanto to court over charges
stemming from their lab-made corn GMOs, but that case was a bit different. Over
2,000 farmers have petitioned the US government to more thoroughly investigate
the impact a genetically modified corn crop from Monsanto will have on the
country. As RT reported before, the biotech company wants to plant a corn
variant across America’s Midwest that will be resistant to a powerful pesticide
produced with 2,4-D, the same compound crucial to the make-up of the notorious
Vietnam War-era killer Agent Orange. If approved, the new corn will be able to
thrive as farmers douse their fields in the chemical, killing off unwanted
weeds in the process while at the same time subjecting Americans to a pesticide
linked to causing cancer.
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