Leticia Ridaura v. Valley Harvesting & Packing, Inc., et al.

Leticia Ridaura was employed from June 1996 to April 2026, rising from an entry-level position to Chief Operating Officer.

Twelve affiliated entities operate under the Scaroni Family of Companies umbrella as an alleged integrated enterprise and joint employer.

Steve Scaroni is founder and chief executive; his sons Matt Scaroni and David Scaroni are alleged managing agents and officers.

Growing operations in Mexico are run through Harvest Tek de Mexico, a subsidiary of Harvest Tek, Inc.

The employer defendants knowingly used unapproved and synthetic chemicals and pesticides on produce grown in Mexico for export to the United States.

Employees who commute across the U.S.–Mexico border were directed to carry the chemicals across in person, bypassing requirements to declare them, identify their intended use, confirm they appear on the approved list, and pay applicable fees.

The produce was “overwhelmingly designated as organic.”

Ms. Ridaura complained to Steve Scaroni in the fall of 2024, again weeks later, and again in early 2025. She alleges she was told the chemicals were “to secure better crop yields,” and later that Matt Scaroni’s position was that “just because it is not organic does not mean it’s bad.”

She personally witnessed chemical pickups on at least two occasions, and an employee told her he had been ordered by Matt Scaroni not to declare or export the items.

Export invoices and food-safety paperwork represented to clients and to USDA border inspection agents that only approved methods had been used.

The produce is sold to clients including Fresh Express, Christopher Ranch, Foxy Fresh Produce, Blazer, Wilkinson and Gee, and from there enters a supply chain reaching Costco, Walmart, Albertsons, Aldi, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Subway and Jersey Mike’s. Certification standards referenced are Oregon Tilth, QAI and the USDA National Organic Program. None of these companies or organizations is accused of any wrongdoing in the pleading.

The practices are alleged to violate the Organic Foods Production Act, USDA National Organic Program regulations, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, FIFRA, the California Sherman Law and the California Organic Products Act.

The employer defendants are self-insured for workers’ compensation and bore direct financial responsibility for every claim.

Employees, including H-2A guest workers, were required to sign daily forms declaring that no injury had occurred. Foremen allegedly told crews that refusing to sign would result in lowered production numbers.

Crews were often required to sign before the workday had ended, attesting to hours that had not yet elapsed.

The signed forms were later used to challenge the legitimacy of injury claims.

A truck dispatcher passed out three times, was hospitalized with a heart attack, had benefits cut off and was placed on unpaid leave after the injury was deemed “personal.”

Three H-2A workers were injured driving their own vehicle to a lettuce field — transportation the H-2A program requires the employer to provide. The incident was treated as “personal” and no medical treatment was initially authorized.

A worker who was vomiting during a period of extreme heat was given Gatorade and a cooling vest and returned to work, and was hospitalized only after worsening at company housing. The incident was never reported.

During a measles outbreak in the Mexico operations, ill and exposed workers were allegedly instructed to keep working in groups.

After Ms. Ridaura reported a call with the director of the California Office of Self-Insured Plans, she was barred from further contact with that agency.

Age-related comments escalated from 2024 onward, including an alleged statement that “everyone becomes irrelevant with age.”

Her year-end bonus was denied in December 2024 for the first time in more than a decade, and she was told to cancel medical appointments until “sometime next year… unless you are dying.”

On March 31, 2026 her Chief Operating Officer title was eliminated and she was demoted to a part-time project manager role at $60,000 a year with no benefits. The stated reason was that she was the highest-paid person in the county and younger employees needed the money.

She was told she could resolve matters “the easy way or the hard way,” then sent a three-sentence electronic document transferring her rights, with no consideration and no description of what was being surrendered. She refused.

On April 9, 2026 her counsel sent a letter of representation and a litigation hold. She was terminated by voicemail within five hours. The companies then sued her and later amended to name her daughter and husband as alleged co-conspirators.