Federal court orders California agricultural employer to comply with law after crash kills 7, injures another during transportation to worksite

The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) is a federal law that sets basic protections for migrant and seasonal farmworkers. It requires farm labor contractors and agricultural employers to follow rules on wages, housing, transportation, disclosures, and recordkeeping.

For transportation, MSPA requires that anyone who uses or arranges vehicles to take migrant or seasonal farmworkers to or from work must, with limited exceptions:

• Use safe vehicles that meet federal and state safety standards (for example, functioning brakes, lights, tires, and required seat belts, and not overloading the vehicle).
• Use only drivers who have a valid driver’s license for the type of vehicle under state law.
• Carry an insurance policy or liability bond for each vehicle that meets minimum coverage amounts set in the regulations.

These transportation standards apply whether or not the employer charges the workers for the ride.

In a Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation, two main types of money amounts can be assessed:

1. Back wages

• Investigators compare what workers were actually paid to what the law requires (e.g., minimum wage, overtime, contract wage, or MSPA requirements).
• They reconstruct hours worked and piece‑rates from payroll records, employer records, and worker interviews.
• The difference between what should have been paid and what was paid is calculated for each worker and added up; that total is the back‑wage amount (in this case, $39,013 for 12 Lion Farms workers).

2. Civil money penalties (CMPs)

• For MSPA, the statute allows a civil money penalty of up to a set maximum per violation (adjusted for inflation) for each separate violation of the Act or its regulations.
• WHD decides the actual penalty using factors such as: the gravity and nature of the violations, how many workers were affected, the size of the business, the employer’s prior history of violations, and whether the violations were repeated or willful.
• Those per‑violation amounts are then summed to reach the total CMP (here, $89,886).

The exact arithmetic for each case isn’t publicly broken down, but these are the standard methods and factors WHD applies under MSPA and its regulations.

The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is the part of the U.S. Department of Labor that enforces many federal labor laws, including minimum wage and overtime (FLSA), family and medical leave (FMLA), child labor rules, and laws that protect farmworkers such as MSPA and H‑2A.

How workers can use WHD:

• File confidential complaints (including regardless of immigration status) about unpaid wages, unsafe transportation under MSPA, or other violations.
• Call the toll‑free helpline (1‑866‑4‑US‑WAGE) or visit a local WHD office to ask questions about their rights.
• Use WHD’s online search tool to see if the agency has collected back wages for them.

How employers can use WHD resources:

• Compliance Assistance Toolkits (including the Agriculture Compliance Assistance Toolkit) explain, in plain language, what the laws require and provide checklists and sample forms.
• The Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program lets employers voluntarily review their own pay practices, identify certain minimum wage, overtime, and FMLA violations, and work with WHD to pay workers what they are owed, typically with reduced litigation risk if they follow the program’s rules.
• WHD’s website, fact sheets, and helpline provide guidance on specific issues like MSPA transportation, recordkeeping, and wage calculations.

A consent judgment is a court order that reflects an agreement (settlement) between the parties, rather than a judgment issued after a trial.

In this case:

• The U.S. Department of Labor and Lion Farms LLC (and its owners) agreed to resolve the lawsuit, and the judge entered their agreement as a binding court order on Aug. 26, 2025.
• The consent judgment requires Lion Farms and its owners to pay $39,013 in back wages and $89,886 in civil money penalties and permanently enjoins (forbids) them from future MSPA violations.

What it means about guilt:

• In many DOL consent judgments, the employer expressly “consents” to the court’s jurisdiction and the relief ordered but does not admit all factual allegations; it is legally a settlement, not a verdict after trial.
• However, once entered, the judgment is enforceable like any other court order. If Lion Farms or its owners violate it (for example, by continuing to use unsafe, uninsured vehicles or unlicensed drivers for workers), they can face additional sanctions for contempt of court on top of new MSPA violations.

Publicly available information describes this as a civil enforcement action by the U.S. Department of Labor under MSPA and related wage laws. The consent judgment and DOL news release address civil remedies only: back wages, civil money penalties, and an injunction against future violations.

News coverage of the Feb. 23, 2024 crash and the DOL lawsuit does not report any criminal charges against Lion Farms or its owners arising from this case, and the DOL’s MSPA authority here is civil, not criminal. There may be separate law‑enforcement or traffic investigations (for example, by the California Highway Patrol into the crash itself), but no criminal charges related to MSPA or the wage violations have been reported as of the information available.

The court order primarily forces Lion Farms to bring its practices into line with MSPA’s transportation and recordkeeping rules. In day‑to‑day terms, this means:

• Vehicles: They must stop using unsafe or unapproved vehicles to move workers. Any vans, buses, or trucks used must meet MSPA safety standards and applicable federal and California vehicle‑safety rules, and they cannot be overloaded.
• Drivers: Only drivers with a valid license for the specific vehicle type, as required by California law, may transport farmworkers.
• Insurance: Every vehicle used to transport migrant or seasonal agricultural workers must carry an insurance policy (or liability bond) that at least meets the minimum coverages set by MSPA regulations.
• Transportation charges: They may not charge workers unlawful transportation fees tied to unsafe or non‑compliant transportation.
• Paperwork: Wage statements for workers must now include required information such as the employer’s identifying details and workers’ permanent addresses.

Because these obligations are now in a federal court injunction, non‑compliance exposes Lion Farms to further legal penalties (including possible contempt of court), giving it a strong incentive to maintain safe, legal transportation and proper records in its routine operations.

Yes. The consent judgment and the DOL release both make clear that the individual owners—Alfred, Bruce, and Daniel Lion—are defendants along with Lion Farms LLC and are jointly responsible for paying the back wages and civil money penalties and for complying with the injunction.

Under MSPA, “any person” who is an employer or who owns or controls a covered business can be held personally liable if they meet the law’s definition of “employer,” which includes individuals who hire, employ, or otherwise control the work of migrant or seasonal agricultural workers. Courts and the Department of Labor regularly treat corporate entities and the individuals who manage them as “joint employers” under MSPA and similar wage‑and‑hour laws, making them jointly and severally liable for back wages and penalties.

In this case, the complaint and consent judgment identify the Lions as owners/operators of Lion Farms and employers of the affected workers, so they are personally bound by the court order and liable for the amounts owed.