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# Mushroom farm to pay $3.4M settlement in WA discrimination case
- URL: https://www.cascadepbs.org/articles/briefs/2023/05/mushroom-farm-pay-34m-settlement-wa-discrimination-case/
- Published: 2023-05-22T13:23:41.000Z
- Updated: 2025-06-19T11:19:34.000Z
- Author: Mai Hoang
- Tags: News, #brief, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-04-25 08:30, #Import 2025-05-09 14:33, #article

About 170 farmworkers at a Sunnyside mushroom farm are expected to be eligible for financial compensation under the [settlement](https://www.cascadepbs.org/content/files/consentdecree-ostrom.pdf) of [a worker discrimination lawsuit](https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/ag-ferguson-files-civil-rights-lawsuit-against-mushroom-producer-ostrom?ref=cascadepbs.org) filed by Attorney General Bob Ferguson last summer.

Ostrom Mushroom Farms and Asellus-Sunnyside, the business entity that now operates the Sunnyside facility, will pay $3.4 million to the state Attorney General’s office, which will in turn compensate impacted farm workers.

Ferguson filed the lawsuit in Yakima County Superior Court last August after an investigation by his office’s civil rights division. The investigation revealed that Ostrom fired its primarily female and Washington-based workforce between January 2021 and May 2022 and replaced them with male foreign guest workers through the H-2A program in violation of Washington discrimination laws.

While the lawsuit was pending, Ostrom sold the Sunnyside mushroom facility to Windmill Farms, a Canadian company. As part of the agreement, Windmill Farms — operating as Asellus-Sunnyside in this state — has agreed to take measures to prevent further worker discrimination. Ostrom must also agree to take these measures if it resumes operations in Washington in the next three years.

Anyone who has worked at Ostrom and believes they should be part of this claims process should contact the Civil Rights Division by emailing [ostrom@atg.wa.gov](mailto:ostrom@atg.wa.gov) or by calling 1-833-660-4877 and selecting Option 5.

In the meantime, workers have continued[ union organization efforts](https://crosscut.com/news/2022/12/mushroom-farmworkers-yakima-valley-rally-union-support?ref=cascadepbs.org) in cooperation with the United Farm Workers. The union declared the settlement “a victory” in a [tweet posted on May 19](https://twitter.com/UFWupdates/status/1659641677370507264?ref=cascadepbs.org).