A federal judge ordered Darryl Howes and his business, Darryl Howes Farms, to stop misclassifying his migrant workers as independent contractors, the Department of Labor reported yesterday. The business must also comply with the record-keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and housing standards of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, and to cease interfering with U.S. Department of Labor investigations.

Darryl Howes Farms, located in Copemish, Mich., employed approximately 38 migrant agricultural workers for the 2011 harvest workers who were incorrectly classified as independent contractors rather than employees, according to a Department of Labor investigation.

U.S. District Court Judge Gordon J. Quist upheld the department’s findings of record-keeping and housing violations at Howes’ 60-acre cucumber farm and migrant housing camp during the 2011 harvest. The department filed a complaint in federal court in 2012 alleging minimum wage, record-keeping, and housing violations following investigations conducted by the Wage and Hour Division. The minimum wage violations remain in litigation now that the threshold issue of employment status has been determined.

“The nature of migrant agricultural work makes the migrant farm worker vulnerable to unfair and unsafe labor practices. The misclassification of these workers as independent contractors cheats them of their rightfully earned wages and gives the employer an unfair competitive edge in the marketplace,” said Karen Chaikin, regional administrator of the Wage and Hour Division in the Midwest. “These actions put agricultural employers on notice that the department is committed to protecting the many low-wage and vulnerable migrant workers, who are susceptible to exploitation and unfair treatment.”

The court also found that Howes provided substandard housing to migrant workers, in violation of the MSPA’s housing standards, and ordered Howes to ensure all MSPA housing he owns or controls complies with the MSPA.

In addition to the labor violations, the court also found that Howes had interfered with the department’s investigation. The complaint mentioned four instances when interviews of agricultural workers had to be terminated because Howes or one of his employees attended the interviews with cameras and refused to leave. The order requires Howes to not interfere with future investigations.