A group of West Michigan fruit farmers and laborers have dropped their lawsuit against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration over mandatory COVID-19 testing for agriculture workers after striking out in two levels of the federal court system.
The group of farmers and food processors, organized by the Michigan Farm Bureau, had challenged the legality of the rules requiring farm workers to get tested for the novel coronavirus before they can work.
Their legal challenge centered on specific requirements for migrant workers who live in labor camps on farms during seasonal harvests of blueberries, peaches, apples and other fruit grown in West Michigan's sandy soils.
They specifically contended the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services' testing requirements were discriminatory because most migrant seasonal workers are Hispanic and just state prisons and nursing homes have similar testing requirements, while most other industries do not have mandatory testing.
A federal judge in Michigan's western district and the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed, siding with the Whitmer administration in denying a temporary restraining order.
The federal appeals court said in its ruling that not testing farm workers "poses a substantial risk of harm to others given that identifying and isolating COVID-19-positive workers limits the spread of the virus. The virus's effects on individual and community health is well documented."
The plaintiffs included True Blue Farms, a blueberry grower in Grand Junction; Smeltzer Orchards Co. LLC, a fruit processor in Frankfort; and West Wind Orchards in Bear Lake, among others that had signed onto the suit.
On Tuesday, the plaintiffs agreed to a voluntary dismissal of the lawsuit, court records show.
The Ypsilanti-based Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, the United Farm Workers Union, immigration attorneys and public health experts had opposed the lawsuit.
"The voluntary dismissal of the case by plaintiffs demonstrates their equal protections claims were baseless and would not prevail," Diana Marin, supervising attorney at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, said Wednesday in email to reporters. "The hard work of protecting farmworkers and the food supply in Michigan does not end here. MIRC will continue to monitor the order's implementation and will work with our community partners to undo the harm the agricultural industry backed lawsuit has caused, specifically the spread of misinformation and fear regarding the order's requirements."
The Aug. 3 emergency order from MDHHS Director Robert Gordon requires testing of all agriculture workers over age 18 living in on-farm premises to be tested within 48 hours of their arrival if they have not previously tested within the previous three days.
The order applies to workers at seasonal farms and nurseries, as well as meat, poultry and egg processing plants with 20 or more workers on a job site.
"These are just extraordinary high-risk types of work, and I think we had evidence in Michigan — and there's evidence nationally — about the high-level of risk for these workers," Gordon said Aug. 31 in an interview with Crain's.
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September 10, 2020 at 07:00AM
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Michigan fruit farmers drop lawsuit over COVID-19 testing for migrant workers - Crain's Detroit Business
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