15 May Black Farmworkers Allege Discrimination, Lost Wages, and Abuse of Worker Visa Program to Deny Equal Treatment to U.S. Workers
For Immediate Release
May 15, 2025
GREENVILLE, MS – Today, five Black U.S. farmworkers from Mississippi sued Gregory Carr for discriminating against them in favor of white foreign workers, costing them thousands of dollars in unpaid wages.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Greenville, Mississippi, by Southern Migrant Legal Services (SMLS) and the Mississippi Center for Justice (MCJ), alleges that Gregory Carr misused the federal government’s H-2A visa program, which allows U.S. farmers to hire foreign workers only when no U.S. workers are available to do the job. The plaintiffs, Michael Anthony Nash, Jimmy Shaw, Vinnie Cason, Grant Lewis, and Charleston Taurvonta Harris, are Mississippi Delta natives who worked as seasonal farmworkers for Gregory Carr.
According to the suit, Gregory Carr has hired white workers from South Africa through the H-2A visa program since 2018. Gregory Carr paid the Black workers he employed $10 an hour, while paying the H-2A workers a higher pay rate. He also deliberately misclassified his Black U.S. workers as independent contractors and did not make the required contributions and tax payments related to their labor.
“The H-2A program allows American farmers to hire foreign labor when no U.S. workers are available,” said one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Tessa Pulaski of SMLS. “It does not allow farmers to pay their American workforce less than the foreign workers and misclassify them.”
“The intentional underpayment and misclassification of Black farmworkers in favor of white foreign labor not only violates federal law but has become increasingly common in the Mississippi Delta, holding our communities back for generations and perpetuating the historical exploitation faced by Black agricultural workers in our community,” said Kimberly Jones Merchant, President and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Justice.
The suit asks the court to find that the employer violated the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act and federal anti-discrimination laws and breached its employment contracts with the plaintiffs.
In addition to discrimination, the lawsuit claims that Gregory Carr’s failure to pay its Black U.S. workers at the same wage rate as its white H-2A workers violated federal law.
“This case shows how the H-2A program can be manipulated to exclude and underpay Black American workers,” said Marion Delaney of SMLS. “Federal protections are only meaningful if we enforce them– and that’s exactly what our clients are demanding through this lawsuit.”
This is the ninth case filed by SMLS and MCJ challenging the discriminatory practices of farmers in the Mississippi Delta who pay their local Black workers less than the foreign H-2A workers they bring in. The prior cases were all settled with significant wage recoveries for local workers.
Read full complaint here.
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The Mississippi Center for Justice (MCJ) is a nonprofit, public interest law firm committed to advancing racial and economic justice. Supported and staffed by attorneys and other professionals, MCJ develops and pursues strategies to combat discrimination and poverty statewide.
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, 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, farmworker, civil rights, and other areas.
Media Contacts:
Tara Y. Wren, Ph.D.
Director of Communications
Mississippi Center for Justice
601-487-7504
twren@mscenterforjustice.org
Sam Rucobo
Public Relations Manager
Texas RioGrande Legal Aid
915-213-1532
srucobo@trla.org