The California cannabis grower that owns the raided Camarillo farm, now under federal investigation for child exploitation, was hit with multiple wage and labor law complaints in recent years.
Glass House Brands, whose farm was raided by immigration authorities Thursday, is the subject of several labor law complaints, according to a Washington Examiner review of Los Angeles County Superior Court records.
Following the raid, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott said 10 juveniles, all illegal immigrants and eight of whom are unaccompanied minors, were rescued at the marijuana facility in Camarillo.
DEMOCRATS CLASH WITH ICE OVER CHARACTERIZATION OF MARIJUANA FARM RAID
In response, Glass House disputed ever employing children or knowingly violating labor laws.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” the statement said. “We do not expect this to affect operations moving forward. We will provide additional details when applicable.”
Over the past two years, Glass House has racked up at least five labor law complaints from aggrieved employees.
In May 2023, two former Glass House harvesters, Anna Maria Pederia and Lourdes Patricia Avalos, filed a class action lawsuit against Glass House Brands and its subsidiaries, including the Camarillo cultivation center, for allegedly refusing to pay regular and overtime wages, provide meal periods or appropriate compensation, permit rest time, offer suitable seating during labor hours, and compensate terminated or resigned employees.
The case is still pending, and a status conference is scheduled in October.
In December 2023, an ex-employee named Gerardo Melendez, who pruned cannabis plants for Glass House’s Camarillo farm, sued the cannabis cultivation company, alleging similar wage and labor condition claims.
Among a slew of allegations, Melendez claimed that Glass House failed to pay workers for all wages as earned, including sick pay, minimum, regular, and overtime, and imposed “unlawful quotas” that interfered with the staff’s right to meals, bathroom breaks, and recovery periods. As a result, Melendez said workers were exposed to safety hazards, especially in the high heat.
“Defendants failed to authorize or permit Plaintiff and Class Members from taking recovery periods,” the 30-page suit said. “Specifically, Plaintiff and Class Members were required to work during hot days, including during summer, without access to shade or recovery periods to cool down and prevent heat illness.”
Glass House workers were “regularly worked in excess” for eight-hour days to meet “excessive quotas,” Melendez said. He specifically had to trim 4 pounds of cannabis each day and either cut short his lunches or eliminate them, depending on the day, the suit said.
A status conference in Melendez’s case is set for October, and a nonjury trial is tentatively scheduled for May 2026.
Last year, Alma Zaravia Garcia, a laborer who worked in a field at the Camarillo worksite cleaning and trimming cannabis plants, filed a complaint against Glass House, echoing claims of unsafe workplace conditions. Garcia said Glass House required employees to buy their drinking water and did not reimburse them for the expense.
The court will review Garcia’s case in April of next year.
Beatriz Hernandez, another worker who tended to the cannabis plants, lodged a lawsuit in July 2024 alleging that Glass House has “a consistent policy of violating state wage and hour laws.”
Hernandez said Glass House imposes “systematic quota and production demands” on workers in violation of their rights.
That case has several hearings on the court calendar, with a nonjury trial to occur as early as March 2026.
Miryam Vences, a former Glass House employee, pursued a similar suit in September, claiming the company engaged in “illegal payroll policies and practices.” Vences said workers were forced to work off the clock, forgo meals, and continue working through rest breaks.
A hearing on Aug. 19 regarding a motion to compel arbitration will be held.
In June 2023, marijuana retail chain Catalyst Cannabis Co. filed a civil complaint accusing Glass House Brands of being “one of the largest, if not the largest, black marketers of cannabis in the State of California, if not the country.”
The plaintiff, a locally licensed dispensary in Long Beach, claimed Glass House has “purposefully structured its business so as to massively profit from the illegal sale of cannabis to the substantial financial detriment of legal operators,” such as Catalyst Cannabis.
According to the accusations, Glass House maintains a network of distributors explicitly designed to handle illegal sales of its cannabis.
At the time, Catalyst Cannabis claimed that Glass House was looking “to further expand its illicit operations by adding significant new cultivation capacity.”
A judge, however, ultimately dismissed the complaint against Glass House.
Glass House had countered with a defamation suit accusing Catalyst Cannabis of running a defamatory campaign that “falsely” compared the company to “a Mexican drug cartel.”
The claims were made “without any evidence,” Glass House’s retaliatory filing said, claiming that Catalyst Cannabis was “spreading falsehoods about a direct competitor” for “financial gain.”
FBI SEEKS GUNMAN WHO SHOT AT AGENTS DURING DHS RAID ON CALIFORNIA DRUG FARM
Glass House later withdrew its lawsuit, partly citing concerns about being compelled to disclose sensitive customer information.
Glass House and CBP were contacted for comment.