Second Judge Sides with Farmers on Hot Goods Lawsuit

If you have been following the lawsuit of two Oregon blueberry farmers against the Department of Labor over blatant misuse of its “hot goods” powers, a second review of January’s decision was given last week. Oregon Farm Bureau Executive Vice President Dave Dillon gives an update
Dillon: “So in January Federal Judge Coffin ruled that the Department of Labor used duress to get agreements and penalties and fees out of these two farms. The Department asked for another judge to review to that decision. On April 24th, Federal Judge Michael McShane affirmed that earlier ruling that said yes, the Department used dressed to get those agreements out of the farmers.”
Dillon continues with next steps in the process.
Dillon: “One — the Department has a certain amount of time to decide if they want to appeal this decision — that is clearly up to them and whether the courts accept that appeal if it were filed. The other tract is these farms need to be able to get the money back that the judges said that the department never legally had in the first place.”
Dillon reminds farmers it is critically important to follow labor laws — however, ??Dillon: “That doesn’t mean that state or federal departments have a blank check to come in and use any enforcement techniques that they want to. That there are limits and when these departments cross the line there are going to be organizations, like Farm Bureau that push back and put them back into proper procedure.”