Eustacio Martinez v. Kyle Shinn and Karen Shinn, and Shinn & Son, Inc.

Appellees, forty migrant and seasonal agricultural workers, sued appellants, Washington farmers, for violations of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSAWPA), Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and Washington law. The case was tried before a magistrate judge, who found in favor of the workers and awarded them actual and statutory damages under the MSAW-PA, unpaid minimum wage amounts and liq- ' uidated damages under the FLSA, and back-pay amounts under Washington law, as well as injunctive relief. The farmers appeal the amounts of statutory damages awarded under the MSAWPA and the inclusion of damages for emotional distress in the court’s award of actual damages to three plaintiffs. We affirm.

I. Background.

Plaintiffs worked as asparagus cutters on appellants Shinns’ Washington farm in 1988. All of the plaintiffs but two had their permanent place of residence in Texas. All of the Texas-based plaintiffs except the Ofelia Gonzalez family were recruited to work for the Shinns by Eustacio Martinez, who had cut asparagus for the Shinns since 1984. The plaintiffs are all of Mexican descent. Most of them have limited educations and speak little or no English.…