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Article published Jan 6, 2009 Plant farm accused of favoring foreign labor
By Robert Norris of The Daily Times Staff
A Maryville woman has filed complaints with three government agencies saying she was discriminated against by a Blount County nursery farm because she is a U.S.-born worker.
In a complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice, Sabrina Steele alleges that Pope's Plant Farm on U.S. 411 South and Mike Pope, of the plant farm, discouraged her from accepting agricultural employment because the firm wanted to hire foreign-born workers.
Steele's complaint, dated Dec. 30, was filed with the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer. She has filed similar complaints against Pope's Plant Farm with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Tennessee Careers Center, which referred her to the job, according to Melody Fowler-Green, Southern Migrant Legal Services attorney who represents Steele.
Fowler-Green said Monday that when Steele was offered a position at the nursery she was told that she would be the only U.S.-born English speaker performing manual labor, that the ratio of male to female workers was about 20-to-1, and that she would be required to work 80 hours per week.
"They purposefully offered her this position on undesirable terms so that she would turn it down and they could hire a foreign worker," said Fowler-Green. "If she had been offered the same conditions being given to the other workers, she would have gladly accepted the job."
James Pope, of the nursery farm, said Monday that he could not comment on the specifics of the claims because the matter is under litigation. He did say that the allegations were unfounded and that Pope's Plant Farm had acted properly.
"This is America and we're proud of it, and we follow the laws," James Pope said.
According to the complaint to the Justice Department, Steele was referred to Pope's Plant Farm through the state employment agency to fulfill requirements of the H-2A guest-worker program. Among the terms offering agricultural jobs to 75 nonimmigrant foreign workers was the condition that the employment would be for 40 hours of work per week.
As required by procedure, Steele originally filed a charge of citizenship discrimination with the Office of Special Counsel. After an investigation, the Justice Department responded that it had not made a finding on the merits of the claim and had insufficient cause to go forward, Fowler-Green said.
The next step for Steele to proceed was to file a complaint with the department. An administrative law judge at the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer will hear the complaint. Any appeal would go before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Steele is currently employed by a landscaping company, Fowler-Green said.
Pope's Plant Farm is not affiliated with Popes Garden Centers.