Vasquez v. Glassboro Service Association, Inc.

Glassboro Service Association (Glassboro) (defendant), a nonprofit made up of farmers contracting for migrant labor from Puerto Rico, operated a New Jersey labor camp housing workers in shared barracks with no real privacy, paying $2.40 hourly and charging $23 weekly for meals but not requiring rent for the barracks; if workers completed their contracts, Glassboro paid for return transportation to Puerto Rico, but not if they were fired. Natividad Vasquez (plaintiff) came from Puerto Rico to work for Glassboro but was soon fired after his foreman deemed his work unsatisfactory; despite an open bed remaining, Glassboro barred him from the barracks overnight, leaving him with no money or means to return home. The Farmworkers Rights Project sued on Vasquez's behalf seeking readmission to the barracks and an injunction requiring judicial process before eviction; the trial court agreed Glassboro could only evict through judicial process, the appellate court affirmed, and although Vasquez had since found other housing, the state supreme court granted certification given the recurring nature of the issue.