A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has recovered more than $450,000 in back wages and damages for 62 people employed by two Half Moon Bay mushroom farms — where a disgruntled co-worker fatally shot seven migrant workers in January 2023 — and assessed penalties after investigators found the employers underpaid workers and provided unsafe housing conditions.

The recovery is part of administrative settlements reached by the department’s Wage and Hour Division with Concord Farms Inc. and California Terra Gardens for multiple violations of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. The division opened an investigation of the farms’ employment practices and compliance with federal regulations after the tragedy occurred. 

At California Terra Gardens, investigators discovered 39 workers housed in cramped cargo containers, garages and dilapidated trailers, forced to sleep on filthy mattresses and be exposed to insects and trash. Xianmin Guan and his wife, Liming Zhu — the farm’s owners — also deducted money from workers’ pay for the substandard housing illegally, the division later determined. 

Two miles away, division investigators discovered Concord Farms’ owner, Grace Tung, housed workers in moldy, makeshift rooms in a greenhouse infested with insects. The division learned Tung violated federal regulations by shortchanging workers who received the regular rate of pay for all hours worked, including hours over 40 in a workweek, and who were also not paid for work off-the-clock...