Attorney for disadvantaged has fought for ‘fair chance’
Friday, January 14, 2011
Attorney Ernest Radillo will receive the city of Wenatchee’s Civil Rights and Social Justice Award at Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration.
MLK Day activities
BRIDGING THE GAP
Since 2006, the city of Wenatchee Diversity Advisory Council has presented the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration. This year, the theme is “Bridging the Gap” and features keynote speaker Clayton “Diamond” Holmes, a former Dallas Cowboys NFL football player and Super Bowl champion.
• Where: Performing Arts Center, 123 N. Wenatchee Ave.
• When: Monday evening. Doors open at 6, with kids activities and mariachi music. The event begins at 6:30 p.m.
• Cost: Free.
• Performers: SumGuy, Mariachi Estrella de Mexico and Leslie McEwen with the Confluence Vocal Octet. Also scheduled is presentation of the Social Justice Awards and introduction of winners of the annual essay contest.
• Info: 888-6216
AMERICORPS SERVICE PROJECT
Members of the state’s Intermountain AmeriCorps will record oral histories at two local senior facilities as part of the national MLK Day of Service.
• Where: Blossom Valley Assisted Living, 1701 Orchard Ave., Wenatchee, and Hearthstone Cottage, 589 Highline Drive, East Wenatchee.
• When: Thoughout the day.
• Info: 630-7959
— Mike Irwin, World staff
WENATCHEE — Local attorney Ernest Radillo grew up as a witness to social injustice.
In the fields of California’s San Joaquin Valley, he saw employers withhold wages, neglect injured workers and cut back on necessities such as water and toilets.
He saw his father and family members slighted. He saw worker safety ignored. He saw activist César Chávez protest the effects of pesticides on field hands.
Now Radillo — shaped by the events of his youth — has devoted his life to helping build a society of equality and opportunity for migrant workers and low-income families.
“All I want for everyone,” he said, “is a fair chance.”
On Monday, the 35-year-old attorney for Columbia Legal Services will receive the city of Wenatchee’s Civil Rights and Social Justice Award, a tribute honoring individuals who’ve protected civil rights and promoted social justice for the area’s disadvantaged populations.
The award will be presented during the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration sponsored by the city’s Diversity Advisory Council. A similar award for organizations will be presented to the Wenatchee School District’s Mentor Program, which offers professional support to teachers; and another for businesses to Cherry Creek Radio Cares, a series of broadcasts helping promote nonprofit organizations and community events.
The ceremony will take place on the 25th anniversary of the federal holiday that honors King, the civil rights leader assassinated in 1968 in Memphis, Tenn. The holiday was first observed in 1986.
“Ernest Radillo embodies every single criteria for winning this award,” said Allison Williams, the city’s executive services director and an organizer of the MLK celebration. “Look at Ernest’s ideals. They really speak to Martin Luther King’s guiding principles — to embrace one another and work towards a better community, a better place for everyone.”
Radillo earned his law degree from Seattle University, working his way up from a researcher for King County Superior Court to an intern for the Sacramento County (Calif.) District Attorney’s Office. He moved to Wenatchee in 2007 to become one of three attorneys at Columbia Legal Services, a nonprofit law firm devoted to protecting the legal and human rights of low-income people.
Radillo specializes in class-action suits that, for the Wenatchee area, usually means efforts by low-income migrant workers “to stand up to someone bigger, a company or employer,” he said. Every year, he serves hundreds of clients who are part of the suits.
The soft-spoken attorney added, “Many times, we see a person being taken advantage of because of who they are and where they came from and which language they speak. As an attorney here, my mission is to create a balance, to make sure there’s a level playing field.”
Most recently, Radillo won a settlement for 60 workers in a Mattawa orchard who required medical attention after being doused with an herbicide from a spray plane. Effects of the spraying — nausea, chest pains, eye irritation — lasted up to a month for some of the workers. They divided $230,000 in settlement money.
Columbia Legal Services and its attorneys receive no fees, Radillo said. “In most cases, 99.9 percent of the settlement money goes straight to the clients.”
In the Wenatchee Valley, big changes have taken place in the last 20 years to improve conditions for migrant workers, Radillo said. “Advocacy groups and the fruit industry itself have worked hard for improvements, particularly in housing for temporary workers,” he said. “But is there room for improvement? Yes, absolutely.”
And fighting for social justice isn’t just for lawyers, Radillo said. “It doesn’t matter how a person is trained or educated of what career they’re following — each and everyone of us has the opportunity to change this world for the better. Look around us. A lot of people in this community are doing wonderful things.”
In fact, said the attorney, “it’s a great honor to receive an award like this from a community that so strongly promotes social justice, that embraces the goals of Martin Luther King and — I believe — is moving towards a better, more balanced, more equal world.”
Mike Irwin: 665-1179
irwin@wenatcheeworld.com
» 38 comments on this story
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Wednesday, June 19
WVC Hepcats Swing Dance Classes
Wenatchee Valley Senior Activity Center, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, June 19
Live Music: Stephen & Sergio @ Icicle Brewing Company
Icicle Brewing Company, 7 p.m.
Thursday, June 20
BNI Better Business Boosters
Rivertop Bar & Grill, 201 N. Wenatchee Ave., 7:30 a.m.
Thursday, June 20
BNI High Noon Achievers
Red Lion Hotel, noon
Comments
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carol 2 years, 5 months ago
haaaaaaaa that was great !!
LMAO
carol 2 years, 5 months ago
I did some research once on the rights of farmworkers in the state of Washington. Other than telling them how much they will make and when they will get paid they bsically have no other rights. (no overtime, minumum wage, etc. etc)
Thank you Mr.Radillo for helping those in need.
JustanObserver 2 years, 5 months ago
Mav is right, you are wrong, Carol. To suggest that minimum wage and other labor practice laws are simply not applicable to farmworkers is either being purposefully untruthful, or simply ignorant.
2 years, 5 months ago
You are misinformed and incorrect. They are entitled to at least the minimum wage. The federal overtime rules also may apply depending on the situation.
2 years, 5 months ago
hadenought.. Unfortunately you are misinformed...Agricultural workers play by a different set of rules...No overtime or minimum wage is mandatory for them. Sorry but your are just plain wrong.
2 years, 5 months ago
Yes. Minimum wage does not apply for any individual if all the following requirements are met:
The individual is employed as a hand-harvest laborer; and The individual is paid on a piece rate basis in an operation where such payment is customary; and The individual is a permanent resident and commutes daily from his or her own residence to the farm; and The individual has been employed in agriculture less than 13 weeks in the preceding calendar year. For example, someone (an adult or minor) who works less than 13 weeks per year harvesting berries during berry season, but does not normally work in an agricultural job at any other time, does not have to be paid minimum wage. Migrant farmworkers are not exempt.
2 years, 5 months ago
Carol, the state Department of Labor and Industries requires employers to pay at least the state minimum wage to all agricultural workers employed in this state--the exception being minors under the age of 18. Whenever I employ workers for fruit harvest from the local Employment Security Agency they always caution me that I must pay at least the state minimum wage even if I am paying harvest workers by the piece.
2 years, 5 months ago
Mavulous...please read my second reply...pasted directly from WA L&I website. I don't know what else to tell you.
2 years, 5 months ago
Carol, you are misinterpreting the language. If a worker, aged 18 or older, is being paid by the piece and is making more than minimum wage then there is no conflict with the law. If, however, the worker is being paid by the piece and is still earning less than minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. If a worker is being paid $18 to pick a full bin of apples and it takes him or her three hours to fill that bin, then the employer by law must still satisfy the minimum wage requirement and compensate the employee an additional $2.67 per hour. If you don't believe me, give Silvana a call down at Wenatchee Worksource for verification.
2 years, 5 months ago
Just make sure the ones you are helping are here legally!!
2 years, 5 months ago
That won't happen---this state is a Meca for the illegals. If you're interested in seeing what will happen to this community--google Maywood, Ca. and see what they've done there.
2 years, 5 months ago
Totally agree,
Google any city in Southern California and you will see what Washington will become soon if the gates are not closed.A war zone full of gang and cartel related crime.We are already witnessing a rash of gang violence here because of it.Anyone who denies that the gangs are the primary problem is trying to cover up the facts.Now I'm not saying immigrants are bad but many of the kids of these people come from big urbanized meccas and were already exposed to street gangs.When they move to new cities its only natural for them to spread that criminal influence to the next city.That's the main reason crime is increasing in cities that didn't experience much of it before.
marysson 2 years, 5 months ago
Interesting that in the context of social justice JustanObserver finds it necessary to caution that "fighting for equality" is a "double-edged sword." Are you suggesting that while noble in theory, social justice is too problematical to address? Would you caution on July 4 that liberty could be a double-edged sword? Do you caution your friend about giving his wife a present on their anniversary because love could be a double-edged sword?
I don't think this effort by thoughtful community members (recognizing the work of Mr. Radillo), on that day (MLK Day), is reason to caution the community about something that "should be held dear to any civilized society".
JustanObserver 2 years, 5 months ago
I probably should have phrased it that some of what's done in the name of social justice is often a double-edged sword. I guess you want to argue over semantics...
And no, it's not too problematic to address. What's problematic is the fact that many claim inequality and racism where it doesn't exist and sensationalize it. See my exhibits above (Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton). They also selectively choose perceived injustices, attribute it to skin color, and publicize it based on skin color rather than on the nature of the injustice (you then get the comments, "If that happened to a __ person, can you imagine what the media would say?").
Let's fix all injustices. Period. Let's not take the Sharpton approach wherein he's a lightning rod for a certain portion of the population, and he has to try and create this negative energy in order to maintain his following.
SpeakTruth 2 years, 5 months ago
I'm all for civil rights. But you can't have a level playing field when some of these people speak no English and have no work visa to be a migrant worker in the 1st place. Instead of "helping" the "disadvantaged" why not instead target employers who hire the "disadvantaged" to begin with? That way the "disadvantaged" wouldn't be needing a pro-bono lawyer to fight for their rights.
eastwenatcheeresident 2 years, 5 months ago
How is it that I can go to my childs doctor and have to pay a $30.00 copay. Then sit down and the next 4 families that come in can not speak english, not have to pay a copay, and wind up getting to see the doctor before we do because they were late. How is this fair to someone that was born and raised in this state. Equal rights should be for everyone even if you speak english.
Peggy 2 years, 5 months ago
From the article: In fact, said the attorney, “it’s a great honor to receive an award like this from a community that so strongly promotes social justice, that embraces the goals of Martin Luther King and — I believe — is moving towards a better, more balanced, more equal world.” Obviously most who are posting here are not among those about whom he speaks. Thank you, Mr. Radillo, for all that you do to promote social justice for ALL.
hadenough 2 years, 5 months ago
Define "Social Justice".
carol 2 years, 5 months ago
and Thank You Peggy.
2 years, 5 months ago
"Most recently, Radillo won a settlement for 60 workers in a Mattawa orchard who required medical attention after being doused with an herbicide from a spray plane. Effects of the spraying — nausea, chest pains, eye irritation — lasted up to a month for some of the workers. They divided $230,000 in settlement money."
Read about that case here:
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2010/12/13/1289617/mattawa-workers-misted-with-chemicals.html
Of significance at the above link is the fact that the Washington State Department of Agriculture did not cite the company because of a lack of evidence. See below:
"The state Department of Agriculture investigated the incident after it was reported and concluded it did not have enough evidence to take action against the company, according to state spokesman Joel Kangiser".
The state Department of Ag will search for spray residues where the infraction is said to have occurred. If they cannot find residual spray evidence, they cannot issue a citation. The citation normally bolsters the plaintiff's case and goes hand-in-hand with a subsequent court conviction. The fact that it did not in this case is most troubling in my opinion. Also, the chemical at fault in this instance is practically non-toxic according to Cornell University. Here are some of their conclusions:
"Clethodim is practically non-toxic by dermal absorption."
"Clethodim is practically non-toxic by the inhalation route as well."
"Clethodim is practically non-toxic to birds."
"Clethodim is practically non-toxic to honeybees..."
http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/carbaryl-dicrotophos/clethodim-ext.html
2 years, 5 months ago
Residual spray evidence is different than evidence of medical issues.
From the MSDS for Clethodim: "IF IN EYES: Hold eye open and rinse slowly and gently with water for 15-20 minutes. Remove contact lenses, if present, after the first 5 minutes, then continue rinsing eye. Call a poison control center or doctor for treatment advice. IF ON SKIN OR CLOTHING: Take off contaminated clothing. Rinse skin immediately with plenty of water for 15 - 0 minutes. Call a poison control center or doctor for treatment advice. IF SWALLOWED: Call a poison control center or doctor immediately for treatment advice. Have person sip a glass of water if able to swallow. DO NOT induce vomiting unless told to do so by the poison control center or doctor. NOTE TO PHYSICIAN: Contains a petroleum distillate solvent, vomiting may cause aspiration pneumonia and may contraindicate the use of gastric lavage. ... ACUTE TOXICITY: (technical) Oral LD50 (rat) - 5,000 mg/Kg (female) Dermal LD50 (rat) - > 5,000 mg/Kg Inhalation LC50 (rat) - > 2.0 mg/L (4 hour) Eye Irritation (rabbit) - Moderate Skin Irritation (rabbit) - Moderate Sensitization (guinea pig) - Non-sensitizer MEDICAL CONDITIONS AGGRAVATED BY EXPOSURE: Exposure to vapors may increase tendency to respiratory or bronchial infections.
http://www.cropsmart.net/Products/Clethodim/CropSmart%20Clethodim%20MSDS.pdf
2 years, 5 months ago
"Residual spray evidence is different than evidence of medical issues."
Norm, if you cannot find spray residue in the location where the infraction supposedly occurred, then you cannot substantiate the infraction, which is why WSDA never issued a citation. I would like to learn more about this case because on the surface the judicial ruling looks specious without WSDA's confirmation that residues were actually found at the scene.
2 years, 5 months ago
I understand that. Here's what I meant: for the infraction/citation, the main evidence is the residue from the spraying location (I'm assuming you're correct about this, and that this is what you meant by "residual spray evidence"), for a personal injury case, the main evidence is in the bodies of the allegedly injured.
2 years, 5 months ago
What I am wondering is how you can prove a personal injury case without WSDA first documenting chemical residue evidence? It's like trying to prove a murder case without a body. Anyone can fallaciously claim that they have been sprayed and, in fact, some of that does go on, but without the physical evidence placing the chemical at the scene your case is--or at least should be--greatly diminished. After all, it is perfectly legal to apply approved spray chemicals on your property as long as you keep the chemical on your property and avoid spray drift onto adjacent property. It would appear that the lack of evidence supplied by WSDA suggests that spray drift was not an issue in this case. I find that especially interesting given the fact that they can easily measure residue in parts per billion.
2 years, 5 months ago
My best guess is that the people who claimed injury had some evidence from the hospital/Dr's that examined them that either showed exposure to clethodim (ie. traces of it on the people) or some objective tests showing that they had symptoms that were consistant with exposure to it.
We don't know what the evidence was - whether it included the residual spray evidence you referred to or whether it was limited to medical evidence. All we know is that Ag decided there wasn't enough evidence to issue a citation (that doesn't necessarily mean they had no evidence or what the nature of their evidence was) and that the company (probably the sprayers' insurance company) decided that there was enough evidence to settle the case rather than defend it in court.
JimboBear 2 years, 5 months ago
Well Carol, I just copied this link from the Access Washington pages:
http://www.lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/Wages/Minimum/default.asp?WT.svl=QL
The first Paragraph begins thusly:
The 2011 Washington minimum wage is $8.67 Washington's minimum wage applies to workers in both agriculture and non-agricultural jobs, although 14- and 15-year-olds may be paid 85% of the minimum wage.
Until someone can show me where the RCW states something different, I'd sure bet that farm workers must be paid minimum wage.
JimboBear 2 years, 5 months ago
I may as well add Carol, that the information you cut and pasted was from the RCW and covers exemptions to the minimum wage. That is included here:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=49.46.010
You'll note that those exemptions are for "piece workers" doing hand harvesting that is traditionally paid on a per piece basis in that area, meaning that if apple pickers are normally and traditionally paid by the bin (for instance) then minimum wage does not apply. The reasoning is that if you are good at what you do in these tasks you will make more than the minimum anyway.
2 years, 5 months ago
"meaning that if apple pickers are normally and traditionally paid by the bin (for instance) then minimum wage does not apply."
No, Jim. Minimum wage always applies. It acts as a floor for the worker in the event that he or she cannot make more than minimum wage when working by the piece. In other words, the worker is always guaranteed at least minimum wage or better when working by the piece. The only exception being a minor.
2 years, 5 months ago
Well, because of what you do, I'm sure that you are more well versed in that than I am. I merely looked it up in L&I and RCW pages and that's what I interpreted. Those were the two links that I posted above. I'm no great shakes at legalese, but it seemed pretty straight forward, and for the most part it certainly said that the minimum applied. Darned if I'll look it up again but there were some exemptions (as quoted by Carol) but the way I read it, they all must apply and it was aimed at very temporary workers. Here is the quote I refer to excerpted from the RCW.
" (5) "Employee" includes any individual employed by an employer but shall not include:
The construction industry must operate by slightly different rules as I always understood that a piece worker there had to be a licensed sub contractor in order to work by the piece. Of course, I've been out of it now for nearly ten years so that could all be different now.
2 years, 5 months ago
"Well, because of what you do, I'm sure that you are more well versed in that than I am."
No, not necessarily. Granted, I would hope that I know the nature of my business better than those outside the industry after all these years, but that certainly doesn't mean that I do. I agree that the wording of the RCW is somewhat confusing, but I guess I have to conclude that the intent of the minimum wage law is to provide all eligible workers with a minimum wage floor for labor services rendered. Whenever Work Source sends someone out for apple harvest or cherry harvest, they always remind me that even though harvest workers are being paid by the piece, the employer must at least compensate these workers an amount that is equivalent to the state minimum wage. I have always complied with the Work Source directive and never questioned it. That said, I have also never consulted with an attorney for further interpretation of the law.
2 years, 5 months ago
It sounds to me like the only exception might be the hand harvesting functions, but I think you are wise to comply with the Work Source reminders. I do think that if it were me, I might well take a copy of that RCW page down to their office during the off season and ask why the min. is still required. I only say that because it does seem to me that the employer could get stuck paying min. wage for some rather worthless labor. Of course, I suppose you always have the right to send them back to Work Source after 4 hours if they are obviously not performing, don't you?
I have to say that it's a damn shame that our laws have to be written in such a way that it takes a law degree or a Supreme Court ruling to interpret them though.
2 years, 5 months ago
"I suppose you always have the right to send them back to Work Source after 4 hours if they are obviously not performing, don't you?"
Yes, if it doesn't work out I have that option, but for the most part that has never been an issue. Workers that stay in this type of work are usually pretty good at what they do in the orchard or they move on to something else. If orchard work isn't a good fit for them, then the restaurant and food service industry is usually the next step up and out of the orchard or they move up to the construction business. When economic times are good no one comes knocking on my door, but when times are not so good--as is currently the case--we are answering the door to workers looking for a pruning job several times a week. Many of these same workers had lost their jobs in construction or other related fields and have returned to the orchards in search of work.
2 years, 5 months ago
Sounds familiar. Just a lot of years and a different demographic. I served my time out there in the orchards, but I found the grocery store the next step up. Of course, I was just a teenager then too, so I'd guess that you're talking of an older set of workers these days as well. Good to hear that you haven't been bothered by the non performers too.
2 years, 5 months ago
An individual makes more money by the peice than by the hour in agriculture. I know first hand, I do it ever summer, you make more money in the orchard than you do in a shed, its just harder work, but more money.
carol 2 years, 5 months ago
Thanks Jimbo..I guess I didn't specify that I was mainly talking about apple pickers. More specifically, a gentleman who stays in our home and last year worked for someone who did NOT compensate them if their work for the day averaged less than minimum wage. The orchard was not good for the pickers so they could not "make out" even though they are good workers and worked their butts off all day. If these type of workers work less than 13 weeks a year in the orchard, my understanding is they are exempt from minimum wage jobs...otherwise would he have a case against the owner???
wenatcheegirl30 2 years, 5 months ago
Is he defending the legal migrant workers or the illegal migrant workers? I feel like that may be a dumb question.
I work by the peice, I'm white and I pick cherries every year in the Wenatchee area, and I have a choice to work by the hour or by the lug, I chose the lug because I can make more money, and I do it to put myself thru college. I can double sometimes triple min wage in one hour, I don't take breaks.
People shouldn't complain this summer if they are unemployed because every orchardist needs a cherry picker white or hispanic.
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