By Grace Jacobson / News Director

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit against a Stearns County dairy farm on Monday.

The lawsuit is against Paynesville-based Evergreen Acres Dairy, Evergreen Estates, Morgan Feedlots (collectively “Evergreen”) and owners Keith Schaefer and his daughter, Megan Hill.

It states the company owners runs “their business on the backs of employees that they systematically and illegally exploit,” many of whom are “unauthorized workers” that speak “limited or no English.”

Attorney General Ellison is seeking to stop Evergreen’s “unlawful failure” to pay its employees all the wages they earned, which is an estimated $3 million.

Many employees also live in rental housing provided by Evergreen; however, the housing conditions do not meet Minnesota’s standards for habitability. Some lack heat and on-site toilets and most have mold, mildew and/or insect infestations. They also do not have a choice on which housing.

Click here to view photos of the substandard housing Evergreen provides to employees.

Evergreen reportedly cultivated a workplace culture of fear, violence, intimidation and discouraged workers from complaining about their pay and housing through threats of violence and calls to the police.