Pure Beauty Farms Inc. pays $200K in penalties, back wages to resolve H-2A violations

ATLANTA – An administrative law judge has entered a consent order following a U.S. Department of Labor investigation that determined a wholesale plant nursery in Miami gave foreign visa workers preferential treatment over U.S. workers, and housed workers in unsafe and unhealthy conditions in Greensboro, Georgia.

The action by the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges counters Pure Beauty Farms Inc.’s attempt to challenge an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division, which identified several violations of the federal H-2A program that allows U.S. agricultural employers to temporarily hire foreign workers to meet labor demands when U.S. workers cannot fill positions.

Pure Beauty Farms grows more than 1,000 different varieties of plants in Greensboro and in Houston, and supplies large retailers, such as the Home Depot, and other independent garden centers and retailers, as well as landscapers and theme parks in eight states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.

The division’s investigations found the employer:

• Gave preferential treatment to H-2A program workers by requiring U.S. applicants to have certain nursery work experience and to provide references, steps not required for foreign workers. The employer rejected 29 U.S. applicants as a result, including several who previously performed the same...

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