Tree Top juice company accused of not paying Eastern WA workers full wages

Tree Top is being accused in a federal lawsuit of failing to pay its workers at Washington plants the full wages they were owed.

It has plants in Prosser, Selah and Wenatchee in Washington that produce fruit products, including apple and other juices and juice concentrates. It is a farmers’ cooperative with headquarters in Selah.

The lawsuit is being proposed as a class action for the company’s Washington workers.

It seeks an award of double or triple unpaid wages that the plaintiff claims should have been paid over the past three years, including for unpaid time, which would have pushed time worked into overtime.

Tree Top, a cooperative owned by farmers with headquarters in Selah, said it takes the claims seriously, but cannot comment on the specifics of ongoing litigation.

The lawsuit says that Tree Top did not pay for the time employees were required to take off and put on protective gear, including arm guards, safety hats, disposable plastic aprons, gloves, goggles and earplugs.

Workers instead did that during unpaid meal breaks and paid rest breaks that are required by law, according to the lawsuit. It’s estimated that taking off or putting on the safety gear takes three to five minutes.

Hourly employees also had to do other work during the lunch and other breaks, the lawsuit claims.

The lead plaintiff in the case, Braine Johnson, a former Tree Top team lead in Selah, said he and other workers were required to remain on call and carry out requests from management during their unpaid meal breaks and rest breaks. They were not allowed to leave Tree Top during rest breaks, the lawsuit said.

At one time, Johnson said he was denied meal breaks on a daily or near-daily basis for several months because Tree Top failed to schedule sufficient staff to work.

Rest breaks were also frequently missed, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also said that Tree Top failed to provide a second meal break as required by law for work shifts that exceeded 11 hours.

Tree Top said that it will respond to allegations through appropriate legal channels and emphasized that it is committed to operating with integrity and in full compliance with all applicable labor laws.

“The case is one of many similar lawsuits filed across Washington state against employers in various industries,” it said.

The Tree Top lawsuit follows a similar lawsuit filed against Lamb Weston over wages paid to its workers in Washington, including at its potato plants in Pasco, Richland and Paterson.

Lamb Weston has strongly denied claims of wrongdoing in a federal court filing.

This story was originally published July 14, 2025 at 5:00 AM.