In 2022, two Guatemalan farmworkers filed a lawsuit against Purpose Point Harvesting, a farm labor contracting company based in Oceana County, Michigan, alleging severe labor abuses.

On Friday, June 6, 2025, after an eight-day trial in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, a jury found Purpose Point Harvesting guilty of exploiting a group of Guatemalan farmworkers in a forced labor scheme that violated both federal and state laws.

The plaintiffs, all from a poor mountainous region of Guatemala, testified that they were charged illegal recruitment fees of $2,500 each, had their passports confiscated, and were forced to work from 3 a.m. to 10 p.m. with limited access to medical care. When they complained, they were threatened with deportation or being reported to immigration authorities.

The jury found Purpose Point Harvesting in violation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, Michigan’s Workforce Opportunity Wage Act, and the Human Trafficking Victims Compensation Act.

Jurors awarded a total of $550,000 to the five plaintiffs — Luis Gomez-Echeverria, Hervil Gomez-Echeverria, Darwin Joel Fuentes Perez, Artemio Coronado Esteban, and Leonel Lopez y Lopez — including $450,000 in punitive damages. The case centered on allegations that the workers were lured to Michigan with promises of legal employment and fair wages under the H-2A visa program, only to face grueling work hours, withheld wages, and threats of retaliation.

The outcome is seen as a victory in holding labor contractors accountable under the H-2A visa system, which ties workers to individual employers and has been widely criticized for enabling abuse with little oversight. Attorneys say the case is far from isolated and serves as a warning to other exploitative operators.