US Farm Workers Sue Farmer Over Alleged Wage Bias Favouring White South Africans

• Five Black American workers in Mississippi have filed a federal lawsuit against farm owner Gregory Carr, alleging wage discrimination in favour of white South African H-2A workers
• The lawsuit claims US workers were paid lower hourly wages and misclassified as contractors while South African visa workers received higher, regulated agricultural pay
• The case raises wider questions about H-2A visa labour rules, wage parity enforcement and foreign worker hiring practices in US agriculture

Five Black American farm workers in Mississippi have launched a federal lawsuit against a local farm owner. According to Daily Maverick, they are alleging racial discrimination and wage inequality tied to the hiring and pay of white South African guest workers under the US H-2A agricultural visa programme.

The case, filed in Greenville, Mississippi, targets Gregory Carr, owner of Carr Farms, a rice and soybean operation based in Schlater in Leflore County. The plaintiffs allege that between 2018 and 2026, they were consistently paid lower wages than white South African seasonal workers performing similar agricultural duties on the same farms.

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The workers, identified as US citizens Michael Anthony Nash, Jimmy Shaw, Vinnie Cason, Grant Lewis and Charleston Taurvonta Harris, are being represented by civil rights and migrant labour legal organisations, including the Mississippi Centre for Justice and Southern Migrant Legal Services.

Allegations of wage discrimination and misclassification

Court filings claim Carr systematically paid Black American workers a flat rate of $10 per hour while South African H-2A visa workers received higher wages linked to federally determined agricultural wage standards. The plaintiffs argue this created a widening pay gap over several years, particularly between 2018 and 2025.

They further allege that Carr misclassified US workers as independent contractors rather than employees, a move that would have reduced labour protections and allowed the employer to avoid contributing to Social Security and Medicare taxes. The lawsuit also accuses the farm of using multiple business entities to structure payroll in a way that allegedly separated domestic workers from foreign H-2A workers, enabling different wage systems within the same operation.

H-2A visa rules under scrutiny

The H-2A visa programme allows US employers to hire foreign agricultural workers for seasonal or temporary work when local labour is deemed insufficient. However, federal law requires employers to recruit and prioritise US workers first, and ensure that domestic employees performing similar roles are paid at least equivalent wages under “corresponding employment” rules.

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The plaintiffs argue these protections were not properly applied and that South African workers were prioritised for better-paid roles while US workers were left on lower pay structures despite performing comparable work. Beyond wage allegations, the case references unsafe working conditions on certain agricultural sites linked to Carr’s operations. The filings cite failures to provide adequate safety equipment for high-risk work such as grain silo operations.

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• The United States of America government has raised further concerns about the protection of Afrikaners in South Africa.

Source: Briefly News