A group of migrant agricultural workers who were sprayed with pesticides while working in a central Illinois cornfield in 2019 reached a confidential settlement late last month with Corteva and its subsidiary, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, ending a three-year lawsuit with the seed giants. The case against the companies that owned and operated the aircrafts that sprayed the workers is ongoing.  

Lawyers for the workers said the companies violated the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act by:

• failing to provide them with facilities to wash off the chemicals after being sprayed, 
• ordering the workers to go back into the fields still enveloped by the toxic compounds,
• lying to them about what had been sprayed,
• and by denying to pay for the workers hospital bills, despite carrying the legally required workers’ compensation coverage. 

Attorneys for the migrants and their children sought compensation for damages and attorney fees, and claimed that the companies committed battery and assault.

Federal and state investigations, investigative reporting and public outrage around the case helped spur a change in the law that passed in June 2023 and increased penalties for applicators who expose humans to the harmful chemicals.

Sen. Karina Villa, a West Chicago Democrat who fought to pass the legislation for years in the state senate, said that it’s difficult for her not to get emotional about what happened to the workers. Villa said that both of her grandfathers were farmers and migrant workers, and she wanted to make sure such workers are protected in the state. She has been a member of the Senate Committee for Agriculture since 2021.

“I really wish I would have been a fly on the wall to know what that settlement was, but in my personal opinion, there’s nothing that can compensate for the blatant disregard for humanity that occurred,” she said. 

On Aug. 5, 2019, approximately 95 workers were detasseling corn in a field in Santa Anna Township, operated by the agricultural seed and chemical company Corteva Agrisciences, when a plane flew overhead, dousing the workers in chemicals, according to court documents. It made a second pass, spraying the workers again only minutes later. Two weeks earlier, a similar incident had occurred when a helicopter dusted those same workers.

According to the lawsuit, the company “provided no emergency medical assistance, decontamination measures, or instructions to the workers about rinsing or washing themselves, and offered no transportation to a medical facility.” Several of the workers sought medical care at a nearby hospital, including a pregnant woman who was afraid she was miscarrying.

Some of the workers were not able to decontaminate and exposed their families and children to the pesticide, according to the complaint. 

In a motion to U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough, attorneys for the migrant workers wrote that each of the workers represented live and work outside of Illinois in multiple states. Many of the workers “do not have consistent or reliable access to the internet, making even remote participation for all Plaintiffs unfeasible,” according to the motion filed in April. 

The judge took the request into consideration, including the cost of continuing the litigation, and on July 26, granted the confidential settlement agreement. A portion of the total amount of the settlement will be allocated to each of the plaintiffs based on many factors, including the severity of their injuries.

The plaintiffs’ claims against the owners and operators of the aircrafts, RAS Aviation LLC, Curless Flying Service Inc. and Farm Air Inc. remain active, according to the motion. Lawyers for the workers and their children declined to comment because of the ongoing litigation. 

The aviation companies are also still embroiled in a separate lawsuit for the incident, brought by Illinois Attorney General Kawame Raoul through the Illinois Pollution Board, for violating the Illinois Environmental Protection Act. The attorney general’s office seeks to fine the companies $50,000 for each violation of the act. 

Attorneys for RAS, Farm Air and Curless Flying Service, Inc. did not respond to requests for comment. 

In 2020, the pesticide applicators were each fined $750 by the Department of Agriculture, the highest penalty at the time. Lawyers for the migrant workers and their children claimed in the lawsuit that the harms and damages from the incidents totaled more than $75,000 for each of the plaintiffs. 

In a written statement to Investigate Midwest, a spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Agriculture said, “Corteva was the manager of the agricultural worker crews. The Department did not take any enforcement action against Corteva in the 2019 incidents, as they were not applying pesticides. In one of the instances, Corteva filed the initial complaint.”

A spokesperson for Corteva wrote in an emailed statement to Investigate Midwest, “We consistently denied in the lawsuit that the plaintiffs were sprayed with pesticides. That remains an issue in the case” and that “neither of (the aviation companies RAS Aviation or Curless) was working on our behalf when the plaintiffs claim to have been sprayed.” 

Pioneer is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Corteva, Inc., a publicly traded agricultural chemical and seed company. Corteva raked in $17 billion in sales in 2023 and operates fields throughout Illinois. Every summer, the companies employ migrant agricultural workers to detassel corn – a labor intensive process that can only be done by hand and typically lasts for two weeks to a month. 

“The health and safety of our colleagues is our top priority,” the Corteva spokesperson wrote, “and we provide extensive training and resources to ensure they have the knowledge and equipment they need to be and stay safe.”

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