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CapitalPress.com
Friday, August 27, 2021
Judge nixes mass discrimination suit against Stemilt
Capital Press File
A federal judge Aug. 20 barred a class-action lawsuit
alleging human trafficking and discrimination against
Stemilt Ag Services.
attorney Diana Garcia said
Tuesday that no decision has
been made on whether to
continue with the suit. “Our
clients still need time to pro-
cess it,” she said.
She criticized the ruling,
saying Stemilt “walked off
with a decision that pretty
much let them off the hook.”
Efforts to obtain com-
ment from Stemilt were
unsuccessful.
Attorneys filed the law-
suit last year on behalf of
Gilberto Gomez Garcia and
Jonathan Gomez Rivera.
The suit alleges Garcia,
Rivera and other workers
were threatened with being
sent back to Mexico if they
didn’t pick at least three bins
of apples a day. The quota
was illegal because it wasn’t
in the workers’ contract, the
suit claims.
Stemilt said it set the
three-bin standard in a des-
perate bid to increase pro-
ductivity. The standard,
however, was not enforced
in all orchards, and manag-
ers coached low-performing
workers before disciplin-
ing them, according to the
company.
The judge agreed with
Stemilt that “complicat-
ing matters” was an alleged
scheme by two Stemilt
employees who oversaw the
company’s H-2A program.
The
two
allegedly
secretly formed a H-2A con-
sulting business and farmed
out their work to themselves,
ODFW renews kill permit
for Eastern Oregon wolves
1st - 1668 Industrial Way SW
Albany, Oregon
Holly Briggs, J030; Chelsea Donnelly,
H049; Daniel Goodwin, F003; Gretchen
Groesbeck, D017; Teyadorra Kobernik,
Y014; Robin L McConnell, D001, H008;
Lisa Moore, A031; Brandi Wiebe, D003
2nd - 1501 Hawthorne Ave NE
Salem, Oregon
Kristen Blyeth, 2C03; Camilla Cutsforth,
1G17; Windy L Davis, 1C40; Garrison
E Horton, 1F43; Brian Ireland, 1C34;
Randall Jordan, 2A77; Shaynie Kluth,
1C04; Natalie Krummen, 1H02; Joshua L
Meeker, 1D27; Robert Mitchell II, 1H06;
Michael Mulholland, RJ07; Matthew
Nelson, 1A18; Hope Placencio, 2A56;
Sarah Richel, 2D56; Angel M Rodgers,
RF11; Candice Sullivan, 2C01; Kloie
Wilson, Y1-7
S258044-1
By SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN
Capital Press
Oregon authorities are
investigating the mysterious
death and mutilation of two
bulls whose carcasses were
found this summer: one in
Harney County, the other in
nearby Wheeler County.
In the most recent case, a
Black Angus bull, out of the
Thomas Angus Ranch pure-
bred line and worth about
$4,500, was found dead
and mutilated Aug. 14 at
Greenbar Ranch in Wheeler
County.
Bodie Brown, whose
brother Tanner owned the
bull, and a friend were the
first to find the carcass near
a watering hole. Its nose,
tongue, left cheek, ear, eye,
reproductive organs and part
of its tail were removed with
clean cuts.
The cause of death is
unknown.
The bull, when found, had
likely been dead a few days
and was already decompos-
ing. The 24-hour window
during which a necropsy
could have been performed
on the body had passed.
Deputy Jeremiah Holmes
of the Wheeler County Sher-
iff’s Office is on the case.
“It’s kind of a strange
thing,” said Tanner Brown,
who owned the bull and
runs about 300 pair on 9,000
acres. “It’s unfortunate, but I
think there are other people
in the same spot I’m in.”
Brown was right; he isn’t
alone.
This is the fifth case
of a cattle mutilation in
Wheeler County in the past
20 months. Nearby Harney
County has had five cases
in the past four years, two of
which happened this year, in
May and July.
According to FBI records,
it’s not just an Oregon prob-
lem. Since the 1970s, thou-
sands of killings and mutila-
tions of cattle have happened
across the U.S.
The cases, officials say,
usually look “eerily simi-
lar:” A cow or bull is found
dead in a remote area with
no indication of how a sus-
pect might have gained
access to the property. Typ-
ically, no footprints, tire
tracks or fingerprints are
found. There’s little to no
spilled blood and no visible
puncture wounds, bullets or
strangulation marks.
In other words — a
mystery.
Holmes, the deputy on
Brown’s case, is also the pri-
mary investigator on the four
other recent mutilation cases
in Wheeler County and said
all five cases looked “about
the same.”
The deputy, however,
declined to comment on fur-
ther details about the August
case, saying he’s tracing
some specific clues and
doesn’t want a suspect to
know.
As a hypothetical exam-
ple, if suspects knew he rec-
ognized their tire tracks,
they might ditch their get-
away car.
“I’ve got a few leads I
need to look into that I can’t
talk about yet,” said Holmes.
All five recent muti-
lation cases in Wheeler
County are still open and
under investigation, as are
the most recent five cases in
Harney County.
Holmes advises farmers
and the public to be on the
lookout for people or vehi-
cles that appear suspicious
and to write down license
plate numbers and vehicle
descriptions.
In a recent statement,
the Harney County Sher-
iff’s Office similarly invited
community members and
livestock owners “to be
vigilant and watch for sus-
picious persons or vehicles
where livestock (are).”
LEGAL
The Harney SWCD is accepting bids
for the Beaver Tables aerial seeding,
located approximately 35 miles south
east of Burns, Oregon, within the Beaver
Table mount range. The seeding consists
of approximately 1,200 acres of aerial
application. Seed mixture of 10 lbs of
Siberian wheatgrass and 1 lb of forage
kochia. There is a mandatory bid tour
beginning at 8:30 am on Thursday,
September 2, 2021. Sealed bids are due
either by hand delivered or by mail no
later than noon, Wednesday, September
15, 2021. More information and bid
packets can be obtained at the HSWCD
office located 530 Hwy 20 South in Hines,
or on the district website, HarneySWCD.
org.
S256593-1
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/30/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2014 TOYOTA CAMRY 4DR
VIN = 4T1BF1FK1EU861589
Amount due on lien $1455.00
Reputed owner(s)
BRANDON KEITH HENSLER
TOYOTA MOTOR CREDIT CORP
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/30/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2020 TOYT TAC PU
VIN = 3TMCZ5ANXLM308529
Amount due on lien $1695.00
Reputed owner(s)
RACHEL & WILLIAM MITCHELL
TOYOTA MOTOR CREDIT CORP
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/30/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2018 RAM RAM PU
VIN = 3C6UR5CL5JG380709
Amount due on lien $1515.00
Reputed owner(s)
J SITTISUPACHOKE & D WILHITE
CHRYSLER CAPITAL
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/30/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2008 BMW 750 4D
VIN = WBAHN83568DT78061
Amount due on lien $1515.00
Reputed owner(s) VICTORY LANE
INC/JAMAAL LANE
TD AUTO FINANCE LLC
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/30/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2016 HOND ODY VAN
VIN = 5FNRL5H36GB148871
Amount due on lien $1515.00
Reputed owner(s)
KAPITOLINA & KASIYAM
PIRFILI BORU
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/30/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2012 GMC SAVANA VAN
VIN = 1GD374CG2C1905925
Amount due on lien $1455.00
Reputed owner(s)
3G CONTRACTORS LLC
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/30/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2020 TOYOTA RAV 4 LL
VIN = 2T3RWRFV0LW079652
Amount due on lien $1455.00
Reputed owner(s)
HIEP V NGUYEN & THUY T T VO
TOYOTA MOTOR CREDIT CORP
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/30/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2020 MERZ GLC 4DR
VIN = W1N0G8EB9LF819670
Amount due on lien $1435.00
Reputed owner(s)
NICHOLAS M MARTINEZ
DAIMLER TRUST/DAIMLER TITLE CO
S257177-1
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/30/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2015 DODG DAR 4DR
VIN = 1C3DFCB2FD2771263
Amount due on lien $1675.00
Reputed owner(s)
STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTO INS CO
S257178-1
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/30/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2018 NISS NV200 VAN
VIN = 3N6CM0KN5JK702168
Amount due on lien $1535.00
Reputed owner(s)
MOOSOO CORP / MI HEE AHN KIM
NMAC
S257179-1
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/30/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2011 DODG 250 CW
VIN = 3D7TP2CL8BG509736
Amount due on lien $1515.00
Reputed owner(s)
TIM MCCARTY
S257184-1
Auction Starts Sept 7th 2021
storageauctions.com
Ends Friday, Sept. 17, 2021 10am
Mysterious cattle mutilations continue
around Central and Eastern Oregon
S257190-1
PUBLIC LIEN SALE
U-STORE SELF STORAGE
Deputy Jeremiah Holmes
S257185-1
The Harney SWCD is accept-
ing bids on a juniper treatment
project located near Drewsey,
OR approximately 46 miles
east of Burns, OR. There
are 142 acres of cutting, lop
and scattering, and hand pil-
ing. A mandatory bid tour will
be held on September 10th
@ 8:30 a.m. departing from
HSWCD office. Contractors
are required to meet all Ore-
gon public contracting laws,
maintain a $2.0 million dollar
general liability insurance pol-
icy, and be licensed to conduct
business in Oregon. Sealed
bids are due either by hand de-
livery or by mail no later than
noon, Friday, September 17,
2021. More information and
bid packets can be obtained at
the HSWCD office located 530
Hwy 20 South in Hines, or on
the district website, Harney-
SWCD.org.
S258040-1
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/30/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2006 SPRIN 28FT RT
VIN = 4YDT2S6216K131719
Amount due on lien $1455.00
Reputed owner(s)
ROGER W & LEE F ORR
Officials are investi-
gating the death and
mutilation of this
bull found in Wheel-
er County, Ore., in
August.
S257191-1
S257188-1
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/30/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2007 TOYT FJC UT
VIN = JTEBU11F070066527
Amount due on lien $1455.00
Reputed owner(s)
SUNSHINE PANTRY/SHARON J STRAUS
TOYT MOTOR CREDIT CORP
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/30/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2019 HYUN IONIQ 4D
VIN = KMHC65LC1KU163424
Amount due on lien $1535.00
Reputed owner(s)
FLEXDRIVE SERVICES LLC
HYUNDAI MOTOR FINANCE
S257186-1
S257182-1
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/30/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2016 FORD FUS 4D
VIN = 1FA6P0HD3G5134629
Amount due on lien $1535.00
Reputed owner(s)
ASHLEY & GENE PIRELLI
FORD MOTOR CREDIT COMPANY
where “chronic depreda-
tion” is four confirmed
attacks in six months.
Most of Oregon’s 173
documented wolves are
tightly clustered in the
northeast corner of the
state. The Lookout Moun-
tain
pack’s
territory
includes an area of eastern
Baker County extending
near the Idaho border.
Environmental groups
blasted ODFW for its man-
agement of the pack.
“We’re shocked that the
Department of Fish and
Wildlife wants even more
dead wolves,” said Ama-
roq Weiss, senior wolf
advocate with the Cen-
ter for Biological Diver-
sity. “The assertion that
the pups’ death resulted in
a greater lag time before
the next conflict occurred
is not credible. Any scien-
tist knows that correlation
is not causation.”
Sristi Kamal, senior
Northwest representative
for Defenders of Wildlife,
said ODFW should prior-
itize coexistence tools and
methods, “especially as our
vulnerable wolf population
is already facing threats
from the ongoing drought
and water crisis.”
Gray
wolves
were
removed from the federal
Endangered Species list
in early January, though a
coalition of wildlife advo-
cates is petitioning to have
the protections reinstated.
The Biden administra-
tion, however, appears to
be sticking by the delist-
ing decision. According to
The Associated Press, on
Aug. 20 attorneys for the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice asked a federal judge
in California to reject the
environmentalists’ lawsuit.
S257192-1
S256338-1
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/30/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2013 AUDI Q7 UT
VIN = WA1LMAFE1DD011706
Amount due on lien $1435.00
Reputed owner(s)
MEGHAN L & BRIAN J MALENSKY
ONPOINT COMMUNITY C.U
S257180-1
BAKER CITY, Ore. —
The Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife has
renewed a permit allowing
ranchers to kill two more
wolves from the Lookout
Mountain pack in Baker
County following repeated
attacks on livestock.
ODFW first issued the
permit on July 29 after
confirming the pack killed
or injured five cows in 14
days — well above the
“chronic
depredation”
threshold outlined in the
state’s Wolf Conservation
and Management Plan.
The permit, which
expired Aug. 21, allowed
killing up to four sub-adult
wolves from the pack. On
Aug. 1, the department
announced it shot two
wolf pups spotted from a
helicopter, sparking out-
rage from environmental
groups.
Depredations stopped
for 18 days after the two
pups were killed, though
on Aug. 19 ODFW con-
firmed the pack once again
killed a 3-month-old calf in
the same area.
As a result, the depart-
ment announced it is issu-
ing a new permit that will
run for three more weeks,
expiring Sept. 14. It autho-
rizes three different live-
stock producers to kill up
to two more wolves from
the pack on land where
they legally graze their
animals.
The pack’s collared
breeding pair is excluded
from the permit, though
ODFW has stated it may
consider other options if
depredations continue.
“ODFW has a responsi-
bility to address continued
chronic livestock depreda-
tion by wolves and strives
to first pursue incremental
lethal control rather than
removing entire packs to
strike a balance between
protecting livestock and
wolves on the landscape,”
the agency wrote in a
statement.
Eastern Oregon falls
under Phase III of the state
wolf plan, which defines
“chronic depredation” as
two confirmed attacks in a
nine-month period. Ranch-
ers must also be using
approved non-lethal deter-
rents, such as range riders
to haze wolves and remov-
ing bone piles or other
attractants from pastures.
Wolves living west of
highways 395, 78 and 95,
meanwhile, are still in
Phase I of the wolf plan,
S257187-1
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
collecting from Stemilt their
salaries and consulting fees,
according to court records.
Late in the harvest,
Stemilt uncovered the
scheme and fired the two
workers. Some H-2A work-
ers purportedly left with the
two fired employees and
violated their visas by seek-
ing another job in the U.S.
Piece-rate apple pick-
ers were guaranteed at least
$107 a day in hourly wages.
Stemilt blamed low produc-
tivity on one of the fired
employers telling work-
ers they didn’t need to
worry about how much they
picked, even though the con-
tract required a “sustained”
and “bona fide” effort.
Rivera, one of the two
named plaintiffs, was an
especially poor performer,
frequently picking between
a half and 1.5 bins a day,
according to Stemilt.
S257183-1
Human trafficking and
discrimination claims by
two ex-farmworkers can’t
form the basis of a class-ac-
tion lawsuit against Wash-
ington fruit company Stemilt
Growers, a federal judge has
ruled.
The two workers’ com-
plaints are “plagued by
individual issues,” disqual-
ifying them from represent-
ing 1,200 Mexican nation-
als who picked for Stemilt
in 2017, U.S. District Judge
Salvador Mendoza Jr. ruled.
“The sprawling physi-
cal and factual landscape of
this case ... render this case
generally too unwieldy and
unfit for class treatment,”
Mendoza wrote in a ruling
released Aug. 20.
Columbia Legal Ser-
vices and a Seattle law firm,
Keller Rohrback, sought
to recover damages for
the alleged abuse of H-2A
workers in 36 orchards oper-
ated by Stemilt Ag Services,
owned by Wenatchee-based
Stemilt Growers.
Mendoza denied let-
ting the most serious claims
alleging intimidation and
racism go forward as a
class-action suit.
The judge allowed one
complaint related to disclos-
ing the terms of employment
to be pressed as a class-ac-
tion suit.
Workers received the dis-
closure form in January, but
were not given the identi-
cal form in August when
they started a second H-2A
contract.
Mendoza said he wasn’t
ruling on the merits of the
complaint, only that it quali-
fied as a class-action suit.
Columbia Legal Services
S257189-1
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
