Manuel de Jesus Altamirano-Santiago v. Better Produce, Inc.

I. BACKGROUND

2 Plaintiffs are “agricultural workers imported from Mexico by Defendants to work 3 in Defendants’ strawberry fields.” (Dkt. 1, Compl. ¶ 1.) Defendants are Rancho del Mar, 4 Better Produce, Inc., C.J.J. Farming, Inc., all California corporations with their principal 5 place of business in Santa Maria, California, and Juan Cisneros, Chief Executive Officer of 6 all corporate defendants (collectively, “Defendants”). (Id. ¶¶ 14-17.) The court has set 7 forth the basic facts of this case in its prior Order, (Dkt. 46), which it repeats in relevant 8 part here. 9 Plaintiffs “were recruited from Oaxaca to work for Defendants” under the “H-2A program.” (Id. ¶¶ 20, 45.) Under the H-2A program, an agricultural employer may import workers to work in agriculture on a temporary basis. (Id. ¶ 20 (citing 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a).) Plaintiffs completed visa paperwork with an individual from the office of Defendant Better Produce. (Id. ¶ 46.) Plaintiffs allege that they were “required to obtain a passport at their own expense without reimbursement from Defendants.” (Id. ¶ 48.) Further, Plaintiffs allege that they were “instructed…