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Filed Date: Sept. 8, 2021
Case Ongoing
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On September 8, 2021, six Black American farm workers sued their employer, Pitts Farms Partnership in the US District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. Plaintiffs were represented by the Mississippi Center for Justice and Southern Migrant Legal Services. Pitts Farms hired white South African workers through a visa program sponsored by the U.S. federal government allowing foreign agricultural workers to be employed in the United States, so long as the employer treated foreign and domestic workers equally. The plaintiffs, represented by Mississippi Center for Justice, alleged that Pitts Farms failed to comply with the visa programs mandates because it paid the white South African workers more than the Black plaintiffs, and also provided the South African workers with better housing and other benefits. According to the plaintiffs, the pay disparity violated the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and state contract law. The plaintiffs sought compensatory damages, punitive damages, declaratory relief, and a permanent injunction ordering PFP to refrain from engaging in future race discrimination. The case was assigned to Judge Debra Marie Brown.
The plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on November 8, 2021, which added additional plaintiffs to the case but maintained the same claims for relief.
This case is on-going as of December 17, 2021.
Summary Authors
Jordan Katz (12/17/2021)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/60746374/reed-v-pitts-farms-partnership/
Last updated Sept. 5, 2022, 3:12 a.m.
State / Territory: Mississippi
Case Type(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: Sept. 8, 2021
Case Ongoing: Yes
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Six Black American farm workers
Plaintiff Type(s):
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Pitts Farms Partnership, Private Entity/Person
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Civil Rights Act of 1957/1960, 52 U.S.C. § 10101 (previously 42 U.S.C. § 1971)
Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Workers Protection Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 1801-1871
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219
Availably Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: None Yet / None
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Issues
General:
Discrimination-area:
Discrimination-basis:
Race: