Rosiles-Perez, et al. v. Superior Forestry Service Inc., et al.
Case Number
Rosiles-Perez, et al. v. Superior Forestry Service Inc., et al.
More than 2,200 guestworkers were recruited from Mexico and Central America, under the H-2B visa program,听 to plant pine seedlings for Superior Forestry Inc., an Arkansas-based corporation that describes itself as the largest forestry contractor in the eastern United States. The lawsuit alleges the workers were cheated out of their wages.
During the course of the litigation, Superior was held in contempt of court three times. Mostly recently, in July 2009, the contractor was held in contempt after a company labor recruiter showed up at a meeting in Mexico between plaintiff lawyers and workers interested in the lawsuit 藛 violating a court order and intimidating workers who might join the lawsuit. In a July 28, 2009, decision, U.S. District Judge William J. Haynes Jr. issued a warning to the company that future misconduct would be met with the "ultimate sanction" of default judgment. The judge sanctioned the company by barring it from presenting evidence to dispute the workers' claims for damages.
A $2.75 million settlement was reached in February 2010.
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