San Marcos farm illegally charged workers for unsafe, unsanitary housing, U.S. labor agency says

The owners of a farm near San Marcos have been ordered to pay more than $245,000 in back wages and civil penalties after the U.S. Department of Labor found they were charging 30 agricultural workers rent for unsafe and unsanitary housing, the government agency announced Monday.

During a housing safety inspection at Lucky Growers, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined the company was charging some of its workers rent for housing with structural damage, mold, insect and rodent infestations, missing lighting and makeshift or missing doors, the agency said in a statement. The housing also lacked working smoke detectors and fire extinguishers.

In addition to finding that the company was illegally charging workers for rent, investigators found that Lucky Growers, located off North Twin Oaks Valley Road in an unincorporated area north of San Marcos, neglected to give workers information about job and housing conditions as required by law.

The Wage and Hour Division recovered $171,400 from Lucky Growers in back wages to reimburse the workers for the rent they were charged and assessed the company $76,274 in civil penalties for violations of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.

“Farmworkers provide essential labor that helps feed millions of Americans, and they have rights that are federally protected,” Emily Eckstein, the assistant district director in San Diego for the Wage and Hour Division, said in a statement. “Lucky Growers failed to meet its legal requirements for employing agricultural workers. The Wage and Hour Division remains committed to protecting farmworkers and holding accountable employers who violate the law.”

According to the Department of Labor, Lucky Growers was founded in 2005 and sells its products nationwide. The company operates 180 acres and employs about 80 workers, according to the agency. In its statement, the Department of Labor said that Lucky Growers expanded in 2016 to include Girl & Dug Farm.

Girl & Dug owner Aaron Choi, whose farm grows exotic vegetables for clients that include numerous Michelin-starred chefs, told the Union-Tribune that Girl & Dug and Lucky Growers are separate entities, despite his parents, Brian and Agnes Choi, owning Lucky Growers. Aaron Choi said Girl & Dug “happens to rent space in the same physical farm” as Lucky Growers, but he is not involved with his parents’ business.

Brian and Agnes Choi, who are listed in state business documents as Lucky Growers’ CEO and CFO, respectively, could not be reached for comment Monday.