A U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California ruled that Grimmway Farms took part in a pattern or practice of disability discrimination against farmworkers. According to the lawsuit, the company made workers with job-related and other disabilities take unpaid leave and made little to no effort to find alternatives, such as providing assistive aids or different work assignments. While some employees were able to use workers’ compensation benefits, as soon as those benefits expired, they had to take unpaid leave or get back to work without accommodations. As a result, hundreds of workers were deprived of their rights, and many were effectively terminated.
To learn more, read the California Civil Rights Department Press Release.