Paynesville Dairy Farm Reaches Settlement With Attorney General
ST. PAUL (WJON News) -- The Minnesota Attorney General's Office has reached a settlement with a Paynesville area dairy farm and its owners.
The settlement requires Evergreen Acres Dairy, Evergreen Estates, Morgan Feedlots, and owners Keith Schaefer and Megan Hill to pay $250,000 in back wages to workers and bring employee housing up to standard.
The Attorney General will monitor the farm for three years.
If Evergreen violates the terms of the settlement, the company would be subject to an additional $250,000 civil penalty.
Attorney General Keith Ellison filed suit against Evergreen and its owners in January alleging the company systematically deprived employees of wages by shaving hours from workers' paychecks, failing to pay wages at the beginning and end of workers' employment, and unlawfully deducting rent for substandard housing onsite.
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