Michigan farmers must continue testing migrant workers for Covid-19 before laborers can hit the fields, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denied a motion from farmers and workers urging an emergency block on Michigan’s testing requirements for the virus. Plaintiffs claim the rules discriminate against Latino workers and severely strain the harvests of small farms.
In August, state health officials issued a first-in-the-nation order requiring a baseline negative Covid-19 test for employees at many agricultural operations, and isolating housing for migrant workers. The rules were an attempt ...