The ACLU of New Jersey, the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, and the Seton Hall Law School Center for Social Justice today filed a complaint on behalf of El Comité de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agrícolas (CATA) – a grassroots organization advocating to improve the working and living conditions of farmworkers – seeking injunctive relief and declaratory judgment for violations of equal protection under the New Jersey Constitution.
The complaint was filed in New Jersey Superior Court for Mercer County and asserts that exclusions in the state’s wage and hour laws denying farmworkers equal wages and overtime protection are discriminatory, and that these farmworker exclusions violate the state constitution's prohibition on special laws.
“New Jersey’s arbitrary exclusions of farmworkers from wage protections are based in racism and effectively relegate farmworkers to a second-class legal status, depriving CATA members of their rights to equality, dignity, safety, and health,” said ACLU-NJ Legal Director Jeanne LoCicero. “States across the country have recognized that overtime and minimum wage exclusions undermine equality – it’s past time for New Jersey to do the same.”
Since 1966, New Jersey has denied farmworkers the right to overtime pay that it mandates for other similarly situated workers. Today, the state’s Wage and Hour Law (WHL) still denies farmworkers the same wage and overtime protections guaranteed to other New Jerseyans. Despite amending the law in 2019 to increase the minimum wage to $15 beginning in 2024, legislators once again disqualified farmworkers from equivalent protection, setting a lower minimum wage and instituting only incremental wage increases until 2030.
"Farmworkers in New Jersey, many of whom are members of CATA, for years have faced the burdens of low wages, long hours of work, and a certain feeling of invisibility in our society,” said Jessica Culley, General Coordinator at CATA. “We have watched as other states around the country begin to take steps to recognize the important contributions of farmworkers to our communities and our economy. We want to see New Jersey become a leader in supporting farmworker rights, beginning with paying them equal wages and extending overtime pay.”
Not only do these exclusions harm a particularly vulnerable group, they also mirror federal policies that were intentionally designed to perpetuate racial discrimination. New Jersey lawmakers modeled the WHL’s farmworker exclusions on equivalent exclusions in the Fair Labor Standards Act and other New Deal labor laws – both designed to specifically exclude Black and minority workers.
“Farmworkers have been denied fundamental rights for many years, and they deserve to be free from the discrimination and racism that has denied them fair wages,” said Manuel Guzman, Lead Organizer at CATA. "Increased income will allow workers to more fully support their families and enjoy their lives.”
“Better pay for farmworkers would lead to improved living conditions, better access to healthcare, and more opportunities for education and personal growth,” said Edgar Aquino-Huerta, Worker Organizer at CATA. “With higher wages, workers will be able to better prioritize their health and safety, reducing the risk of injuries and illnesses related to overwork and inadequate rest. They will also be better able to afford stable and safe housing, reducing the risk of homelessness and housing insecurity.”
In prior cases, the New Jersey Supreme Court has recognized that farmworkers – the vast majority of whom are Latine and members of the immigrant community – warrant special judicial consideration because they are among the state’s most marginalized residents: farmworkers in New Jersey receive low wages, have little union representation, and many cannot vote in elections. This reality makes farmworkers especially vulnerable to unfair workplace treatment, which is demonstrated by their exclusion from the wage and hour protections that the state guarantees to others.
“New Jersey courts have a long tradition of fulfilling the State Constitution’s promise as a source of independent and broader protection than the Federal Constitution,” said Jenny-Brooke Condon, Professor of Law and Director of Seton Hall Law School’s Equal Justice Clinic. “That tradition matters in this case where vulnerable farmworkers, carved out of basic labor protections provided to other similarly situated workers, seek fulfillment of the State Constitution’s basic guarantee of equal treatment.”
“The New Jersey Legislature’s exclusion of farmworkers from overtime and minimum wage targets some of the state’s hardest-working residents, who pick healthy fruits and vegetables for dinner tables across the state yet struggle to provide for their own families. These laws should be struck down. Farmworkers are entitled to the same basic wage protections that are afforded to other New Jerseyans,” said Noelle Smith, Skadden Fellow at the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project.
