JACKSON, Miss. – Gulflive.com reports six immigrants are suing two Mississippi companies, saying the firms misled them about wages they would be paid to work in landscaping jobs under contracts with the state Department of Transportation.
The workers are all from Mexico and came to Mississippi under the H-2B temporary visa program that allows people to work in the United States in time-limited jobs. The lawsuit says they worked for Culpepper Enterprises, doing groundskeeping on the sides of state highways. Southern Poverty Law Center filed the lawsuit on behalf of the workers against Collins-based Culpepper Enterprises, which hired them; and Pascagoula-based North American Labor Services Inc., which recruited them.
The suit says the workers often did not even receive the federally mandated minimum wage, and the companies charged the workers for tools, protective gear and uniforms and “an excessive amount” for employer-arranged housing.
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