Company took money from farmworkers’ pay for political donations in SC, feds say
A South Carolina company illegally took money from more than 1,300 farmworkers’ wages to pay for political donations, the U.S. Department of Labor said.
The employees were migrants working temporarily at Titan Farms in Ridge Spring under the H-2A program, according to the federal agency.
Titan Farms, the largest peach grower along the East Coast, is a proud participant of the H-2A program, its website says. The farm is run by Titan Fruit & Vegetable Co. and is located about a 45-mile drive southwest from Columbia.
Titan Fruit & Vegetable Co. asked the migrant workers to make political contributions with the money they earned, according to the Department of Labor, an investigation by the agency’s Wage and Hour Division found. The agency didn’t say what the political donations were specifically related to.
This violated H2-A program regulations because the workers’ “adverse effect wage rate” fell “below the required $11.13 per hour,” according to a Jan. 7 news release issued by the Department of Labor.
Titan Farms denied the agency’s accusations in a statement provided to McClatchy News on Jan. 8.
“At no point were workers required to make political contributions, nor were any such deductions made from their wages for this purpose,” the company said. “The Department of Labor ultimately dropped that allegation.”
Department of Labor spokesman Eric R. Lucero told McClatchy News that the agency stands by “the violations as stated in the press release.”
Titan Fruit & Vegetable also illegally made farmworkers pay cleaning fees to a local crew for housing that the company provided to them, according to the department.
The produce grower was ordered to pay $338,446 in wages to 1,341 workers who took home less pay, according to the agency.
More than 600 of these workers are still owed $132,308, according to the Department of Labor, which is calling on the public for help in finding them.
Titan Farms maintained that it follows all labor laws and regulations, denied withholding money from employees and said some workers “voluntarily hired a private service to clean their housing.”
“We made the decision to settle the case without any admission of wrongdoing and to avoid further legal expenses,” Titan Farms said, and added that the Department of Labor “continues to repeat unfounded allegations.”
The Department of Labor said more than $200,000 has been returned to about half of the migrant workers whose earnings went to political donations and cleaning fees.
“The lump sum back wage settlement resolved all outstanding claims in one sum without dividing the recovery for one violation or another,” Lucero told McClatchy News.
Wage and Hour Division District Director Jamie Benefiel in Columbia said in a statement that “the H-2A temporary agricultural program helps U.S. farmers by allowing them to recruit the workers needed to harvest crops and help their businesses succeed.”
“In return, employers have a fundamental responsibility to ensure that all workers who come legally to the U.S. under the H-2A program are paid fairly and comply with other regulations,” Benefiel added. “Deductions from workers’ wages are forbidden unless they are explicitly included in the contract.”
Titan Fruit & Vegetable is also accused of violating H-2A program regulations by hiding that the company paid some workers $50 each week to drive company vans to do laundry and buy groceries and by not recording “why some employees worked fewer hours than contractually offered,” according to the department.
Some workers’ safety was at risk because the company let them travel in a vehicle that had a broken window, worn tires and lacked a charged fire extinguisher, the agency said. This also violated H-2A program rules.
The Wage and Hour Division fined Titan Fruit & Vegetable $2,850 in civil penalties for these extra violations, according to the Department of Labor.
This story was originally published January 9, 2025 at 7:25 AM with the headline "Company took money from farmworkers’ pay for political donations in SC, feds say."
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