DRESDEN, TENNESSEE – Southern Migrant Legal Services (SMLS) has filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Jackson, Tennessee, on behalf of Odin Millard, a South African farmworker brought to Dresden, Tennessee, under the federal H-2A program on false pretenses where he experienced emotional anguish, among many other allegations.

The lawsuit filed on March 22nd, 2024, states “JM Farms” filed an application to the U.S. government for an H-2A visa in the fall of 2022, claiming it needed to hire a foreign agricultural worker for its cattle farm because no U.S. workers were available.

Subsequently, in October 2022, Millard accepted a job with “JM Farms,” a cattle farm in Dresden, Tennessee, operated by Joe and Amy Mitchell.

However, once Millard arrived at the Mitchells’, they put him to work solely as a truck mechanic at their actual business, Triple J Truck Repair and Towing (“Triple J”), which is not the cattle farm listed in the Mitchells’ government application. The complaint also alleges that the Mitchells hired Millard under the H-2A program to bypass the local prevailing wage for truck mechanics and pay him at a significantly lower wage rate reserved for agricultural workers.

When Millard began to question the legitimacy of “JM Farms,” he was subjected to severe physical and emotional torment by multiple members of the Mitchell family, who are named in the lawsuit. In addition, Millard was threatened verbally and physically when he mentioned wanting to leave the job or report them to authorities. According to the complaint, Millard suffered intense emotional distress and psychological harm as a result of this abuse, leading him to experience suicidal ideation, nightmares, sleeplessness, anxiety, and depression, which he continues to struggle with today.

“The purpose of the H-2A program is to advance the U.S. agricultural industry by allowing farmers to persist during legitimate seasonal labor shortages,” says Hannah McDermott Wolf, an attorney for SMLS. “The abuse suffered by our client is unacceptable and serves as a reminder that when the H-2A program is used unlawfully, it can perpetuate a dangerous history of foreign worker exploitation in the U.S.”

The lawsuit asks the federal court to find that the Mitchells and Triple J violated Millard’s rights guaranteed under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and seeks emotional damages for outrageous conduct. The complaint alleges that, in addition to the physical and verbal abuse, the Mitchells confiscated his passport, monitored his conversations, forbade him from speaking in his native language, Afrikaans, and tracked his movements. The suit also maintains that the Defendants violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and seeks payment of back wages and unpaid overtime wages, and includes claims for breach of contract, fraud in the inducement, quantum meruit, unjust enrichment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED).

“Ultimately, I want to ensure that what happened to me does not happen to any other worker. I hope my experience encourages other workers to advocate for their rights and stand up against abusive employers,” says Millard.

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For media inquiries, please contact:

Sam Rucobo, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Public Relations Manager, srucobo@trla.org 

Texas RioGrande Legal Aid provides free legal services to people who cannot afford an attorney in 68 southwestern counties, including the entire Texas-Mexico border. TRLA attorneys specialize in more than 45 areas of law, including disaster assistance, family, employment, landlord-tenant, housing, education, immigration, farmworker, and civil rights. Our hotline is open from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (CST) Monday - Friday: (956)-996-TRLA (8752) or toll-free at (833) 329-TRLA (8752).

Southern Migrant Legal Services, a project of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) based in Nashville, Tenn., provides free employment-related legal services to migrant farmworkers who work in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. TRLA provides free legal services to people who cannot afford an attorney in 68 counties in South and southwestern Texas. TRLA attorneys specialize in disaster assistance, family, employment, landlord-tenant, housing, education, immigration, farmworker, civil rights, and other areas.