5th Circuit Upholds $2.5 Million Civil Damage Award to Injured Ag Workers

A federal appellate court last week ruled that two severely injured agricultural laborers were entitled to $2.5 million in civil damages from the operator of the sugarcane farm where they had been working. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals applied Louisiana law to the dispute, since the case was in the federal court system only because the parties involved residents of different states. Under Louisiana law, the court said, Alejandro Jorge-Chavelas and Alfredo Moreno-Abarca did not qualify as employees or independent contractors employed by Harang Sugars. As such, the court said, Harang d...