Evergreen Acres Dairy owner charged over wage theft, abuse allegations

One of the owners of the Evergreen Acres Dairy farm is being charged by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, alleging he systematically deprived employees of wages they had earned, and ran a company that was rampant with abuse.

Evergreen Acres Dairy farm charges

Why you should care:

Keith Lawrence Schaefer, of Richmond, faces one count of racketeering and four counts of wage theft (more than $5,000).

The complaint filed in Stearns County says that Schaefer regularly participated in the day-to-day operations of Evergreen – including hiring, firing, scheduling, and payroll management. In his role, he also handled disputes regarding payment of wages, charges allege.

As part of an investigation that involved the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), Ellison’s office says that several Evergreen employees reported that Schaefer, and others working under his direction:

  • Systematically deprived earned wages, including not paying them for the full amount of regular hours they worked, not paying for overtime hours they worked, and withholding final paychecks when they left Evergreen’s employment; and
  • Subjected employees to abuse, including threats to report them to law enforcement, physical violence and death, when they raised concerns about wages that had been withheld, or when they expressed a desire to leave Evergreen’s employment.

Evergreen would intentionally under-report the number of hours that employees worked on their paystubs, shaving off 12 to 32 hours from each two-week pay period, as part of a scheme to withhold employees from both regular wages and overtime premiums owed, the charges read.

During the investigation, one employee said they started working for Evergreen in April 2021, when he was 15 years old, and regularly reported working more than 84 hours per week at an hourly wage of $12, charges state.

However, Evergreen "consistently failed to pay overtime pay during this time," while also charging $75 every two weeks for housing that consisted of one bed, which he shared with his father. Roughly 10 other workers also lived in the same small house as them, which was "infested with bedbugs and cockroaches," the charges allege.

Another worker claims to have been made to live in a garage onsite without a kitchen or plumbing after having been found attempting to organize workers to improve overall working conditions, charges state.

Several other instances in the lawsuit describe a workplace culture of intimidation and retaliation towards workers who attempted to either recoup money they were owed, or improve conditions they were working in.

Previous lawsuit, settlement

Dig deeper:

Earlier in January, Ellison’s office filed a civil lawsuit against Evergreen Acres Dairy, Evergreen Estates, Morgan Feedlots, and the dairy operations’ owners, Keith Schaefer and Megan Hill.

The lawsuit filed in Stearns County District Court alleges that Evergreen's owners, "systematically deprived its vulnerable, low-wage dairy employees of millions of dollars in wages they earned by shaving both regular and overtime hours from workers’ paychecks, not paying wages owed at the beginning and end of workers’ employment, and by unlawfully deducting rent for substandard onsite housing that fails to meet standards of habitability under Minnesota law."

The lawsuit estimated Evergreen owed its employees a minimum of $3 million in unpaid wages at its facilities in Stearns and Redwood counties, many of whom were "unauthorized workers from Mexico who speak limited or no English."

AG Ellison alleged that Evergreen, "has exploited the vulnerabilities of its workforce to withhold earned wages," in the lawsuit.

"Every worker deserves to take home every dollar they earn and live with dignity, safety, and respect," said AG Ellison said in a statement. "My office will fight to make sure the hardworking people who put food on our tables can afford to feed their own families and live in safe housing. We will also fight to make sure that businesses who play by the rules are not unfairly undercut by those who unlawfully exploit vulnerable workers and tenants."

A separate settlement agreed on by Ellison's Office in October 2024 required Evergreen to pay $250,000 in back wages to workers as well as to continue to bring employee housing up to standard.

The Source: A copy of the lawsuit filed in Stearns County, and press release from the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office.

Stearns CountyCrime and Public SafetyAgricultureBusiness