California farmworkers allege civil rights violations. Why this company says they’re false

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Seven California farmworkers are alleging civil rights violations against Wonderful Nurseries, the latest in an ongoing back and forth between North America’s largest grapevine nursery and a historic labor union.

The Latino workers, represented through Martinez Aguilasocho Law, filed these charges last week with the California Civil Rights Department. The charges allege Wonderful Nurseries and its labor contractors failed to provide state mandated sexual harassment prevention training and education to supervisory employees; did not have a written harassment, discrimination and retaliation prevention policy and did not translate the policy into a language spoken by at least 10% of the workforce.

Lack of training resulted in workers experiencing a “hostile work environment” at various Wonderful Nurseries work sites, according to written copies of the charges reviewed by The Sacramento Bee.

Wonderful Nurseries maintains all the charges are “bogus claims” and yet another example of the United Farm Workers filing “fire hose of lies.”

“The actual facts are that every manager employed by Wonderful Nurseries directly, as well as those employed through a third-party, is in full compliance with all mandatory trainings, and, in fact, we are among the only companies to take the added step of auditing the third-party to ensure it,” said Rob Yraceburu, president of Wonderful Nurseries, in a written statement.

Yraceburu continued to say that the company recently provided UFW with Spanish-translated harassment and discrimination “at their request.”

UFW wrote it in a statement it is aware of the charges and confirmed it works with Martinez Aguilasocho Law, a Bakersfield-based lawfirm, frequently.

“State laws need to be enforced for all workers equally and fully,” said Antonio De Loera-Brust, a spokesman for UFW. “There is no excuse for employers not taking the appropriate measures to prevent sexual harassment and avoid a hostile workplace.”

The civil rights allegations come during a public fight between Wonderful Nurseries and UFW. The two sides already had history, with Wonderful Company workers — with the assistance of UFW — striking in 2019 for four days to win back a wage rate that had recently been reduced.

Last month, UFW was certified for organizing 640 workers at grapevine nursery which is under the Wonderful Company empire — a multibillion-dollar agricultural business.

Both sides, and their supporting workers, have launched several claims against each other since the certification.

Wonderful Nurseries alleges UFW organizers misled almost half of the farmworkers who signed union authorization cards. Many of these workers have submitted written declarations, and some participated in strikes expressing their discontent for the union.

UFW maintains the allegations are false and has filed its own charges saying Wonderful Nurseries coerced workers into making false statements and attending the strike.

An Agricultural Labor Relations Board hearing on the dispute has been postponed twice. It is now scheduled for April 25.

A timeline on the outcome of civil rights charges is unclear. The California Civil Rights Department did not respond to a request for comment, citing the potential or ongoing investigation.

Former worker shares her experience

The charges add further fuel to both UFW and Wonderful Nurseries’ claims about each other.

One former worker, who was connected to The Bee through UFW, is among those who have filed charges. The woman asked her name not be published due to fear of retaliation.

She called Wonderful Nurseries a “hostile” work environment that laid her off earlier this year without providing a reason. She could not recall ever seeing any written harassment policies or receiving any training on them.

When asked if she had been harassed at work, the worker declined to answer and cited advice from her lawyers. She said sexual harassment and favoritism among females is widely talked about at the workplace.

“When you get to a certain age, they lay you off and substitute you for younger people,” said the woman, who is in her late 40s.

Her experience falls in line with another anonymous female worker, who spoke to The Bee last month. The middle-aged woman described a workplace culture of intimidation and favoritism, in which some female workers faced age discrimination, sexual harassment and preferential treatment based on their physical appearances and relationships with supervisors.

“If you have a beautiful body or are young then you have a secure job,” she said.

Wonderful Nurseries continues to staunchly defend its workplace culture, and points to its record of no harassment or discrimination claims. The company argues the allegations are being used as a distraction by UFW from the numerous workers pushing to decertify the union.

“It’s getting harder to keep up with the fire hose of lies the UFW is pushing in their effort to divert attention from their fraudulent conduct in a vote decided by just seven votes, but where more than 150 farmworkers say they were misled,” Yraceburu said in the statement.