Gabriel Flores Flores is standing up to Scotlynn Farms, issuing a legal complaint to the Ontario Labour Relations Board.
In his complaint, Flores alleges that he was fired one day after learning his bunkmate Juan Chaparro had passed away and commenting to a supervisor that Scotlynn should take better care of their migrant workers.
Flores, who had spoken to The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star about the outbreak, says he was accused of being the anonymous Scotlynn employee who spoke out about the workplace conditions on the farm.
After allegedly being fired, Flores claims he was informed that he would be put “on the first flight back to Mexico the following morning”.
Following this, Flores turned to the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (who have been keeping a close eye on Scotlynn following the outbreak).
The MWAC’s Karen Cocq believes Scotlynn hasn’t taken responsibility for the outbreak.
Cocq continues, adding that this isn’t a one-off situation for Scotlynn.
That being said, Cocq believes the problem is bigger than Scotlynn, it starts with the Federal temporary foreign worker program.
That vulnerability, she points out, makes it even more impressive when people like Gabriel Flores speak up.
Flores is seeking just over $40,000 from Scotlynn for hours he wasn’t paid, his loss of future earnings at the farm, his loss of reasonable expectation of continued employment and for emotional pain caused by being fired during the COVID-19 pandemic, one day after learning one of his co-workers had died.
The 8-page legal complaint submitted to the Ontario Labour Relations Board can be found here.
We have reached out to Scotlynn for comment on this story and the allegations contained in the complaint.
As of air-time, we have not yet had a response.
If and when we do, we’ll certainly be sharing that also.