A group of foreign workers alleges that their employer failed to pay them required overtime wages and did not honor employment contracts during their time as heavy truck drivers in Texas. The complaint was filed by Erik de Jesus Iniguez Fernandez and Juan Carlos Renteria-Briones on March 23, 2026, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas against Fabian Morales Trucking, LLC and its owner, Fabian Morales.
According to the filing, the plaintiffs are Mexican citizens who worked for the defendants under the federal H-2A visa guestworker program between 2023 and 2025. They claim that they regularly worked more than 40 hours per week hauling grain crops from farms to storage facilities, dairies, and feedlots but were never paid overtime wages as required by law. The lawsuit is brought on behalf of themselves and other similarly situated workers employed by the company during those years.
The complaint outlines that Fabian Morales Trucking has used the H-2A guestworker program for several years to recruit Mexican truck drivers. The plaintiffs allege that despite a determination by the United States Department of Labor (USDOL) in 2017 requiring overtime pay for H-2A truck drivers working over 40 hours per week, “Defendants refused to follow USDOL’s determination and continued to pay only the regular hourly rates for all of the hours their employees worked.” The document further states that a previous lawsuit in March 2020 resulted in an agreed judgment against the defendants for $200,000 related to similar wage issues.
The plaintiffs assert that after these actions by USDOL and prior litigation, “Defendants have continued paying their H-2A employees… only the regular hourly rate for all the hours their H-2A employees worked,” while continuing to obtain approval to employ H-2A visa workers by representing falsely that they would be employed as agricultural workers. According to court documents, this mischaracterization allegedly allowed defendants to avoid paying overtime rates and pay lower agricultural wage rates instead.
The complaint provides detailed background on both federal visa programs involved: H-2A (for agricultural labor) and H-2B (for non-agricultural labor), emphasizing that there is no cap on H-2A visas but strict requirements regarding job duties. Plaintiffs allege that although applications described work as agricultural or involving custom combine operations, “none of Defendants’ employees operated a custom combine harvester or serviced a custom combine harvester” between 2023 and 2025; instead, all operated heavy trucks exclusively.
Plaintiffs further claim they incurred significant expenses traveling from Mexico to Texas—including transportation costs for visa processing—which were “primarily for the benefit of Defendants and were not fully reimbursed during Plaintiffs’ first pay periods.” They also state they are native Spanish speakers unfamiliar with U.S. legal rights or labor petition requirements.
The suit claims that throughout their employment from 2023 through at least mid-2025, plaintiffs regularly worked more than 60 hours per week but received only straight-time pay at rates set by annual Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs). For example, certified AEWRs ranged from $14.87 per hour in early 2023 up to $26.22 per hour in mid-2024 onward for heavy truck drivers—but without any increase for overtime hours as mandated by law.
Plaintiffs bring two main claims: violation of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime provisions as a collective action under Section 216(b), seeking damages equal to unpaid overtime plus liquidated damages; and breach of contract based on promises made in temporary employment certification applications submitted under federal regulations governing H-2A employment. They allege failure both to pay proper wages—including overtime—and reimburse required transportation expenses.
In their prayer for relief, plaintiffs request a declaration that defendants violated FLSA rights; judgment awarding unpaid overtime plus an equal amount as liquidated damages; similar relief for other affected employees who join the case; actual and consequential damages on breach-of-contract claims; reasonable attorney’s fees; pre-and post-judgment interest; costs; and any further relief deemed appropriate by the court.
Attorneys representing plaintiffs include Lakshmi Ramakrishnan of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid Inc., Channy F. Wood, and Leslie Owens of Wood Law Firm LLP. The case is identified as No. 2:26-cv-00059.
Source: 226cv59_Erik_De_Jesus_v_Fabian_Morales_Complaint_Northern_District_of_Texas.pdf
