PORTLAND (AP) — Three farmworkers are suing a Portland farm, claiming they were fired for taking a water break on a hot summer day.
The lawsuit says the farmworkers were fired from The Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island last August, the day after a supervisor discouraged them from drinking water and told them to get back to work. Temperatures had reached 91 degrees that day.
The workers were hired to harvest squash, cucumber, zucchini and other produce. They are seeking $5,500 each, plus attorneys’ fees.
The suit also claims the farm failed to provide adequate water and soap in the bathrooms in 2014.
The Pumpkin Patch’s attorney Timothy Bernasek told The Oregonian the workers’ firing had “nothing to do with” taking a water break.
