More than 50 farmworkers will receive compensation from a $1 million settlement with Toppenish-based apple and hops grower Cornerstone Ranches and its affiliates through a consent decree with the state of Washington. 

The consent decree resolves a lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) in June alleging that Cornerstone fired local workers after holding them to unfair productivity standards and other requirements not similarly applied to H-2A workers, laid off local workers while H-2A employees continued to work, and regularly reduced local workers’ hours and schedules. Many of the workers who were displaced were female, while all of the H-2A workers Cornerstone hired were male. Cornerstone denied all of the allegations. 

“It’s a good day when you can return money to farmworkers who suffered discrimination and unfair treatment. I’m grateful to our team for negotiating a strong settlement that will set a standard for future enforcement in similar cases.” – AG Brown