Please enter a search term.

Please enter a search term.

by: Ariel Salk, Jacque Porter

by: Ariel Salk, Jacque Porter

ROSEDALE, La. (BRPROUD) – Video has surfaced from a June 8 incident showing then-owner Glynn Rivet yelling at Rivet & Sons farm workers while holding a gun in each hand which he points at workers and fires into the air.

The incident sparked an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) which found that the employees, working in the United States on H-2A visas, often worked in “grueling” weather conditions for ten hours or more, sometimes up to seven days a week in “fields that lacked potable drinking water and toilet and handwashing facilities.”

According to the DOL, one day prior to the incident in the video, workers asked Rivet for water which he refused and told them to drink rain water from a ditch.

The workers then called Rivet’s son Brent Rivet who also manages the farm and he brought them water but not enough for the rest of the day.

According to reports filed by DOL investigator Derek Madison, the next day Glynn Rivet instructed workers to leave their lunches and water behind because they “would not need them.” After dropping the workers off in a field Rivet reportedly yelled “I am the one with the power here” as he drove off.

Later in the day, Madison says, while working another field, workers again called Brent Rivet to assist in retrieving their food and water. The younger Rivet answered that he was far away but would try. The workers decided to walk 1.5 miles back to retrieve their food.

According to Madison’s reports, about 40 minutes later Glynn Rivet pulled up in his truck and began the tirade shown in the video in which he complains about the workers asking for help from his sons.

Glynn Rivet turned himself in days after the workers filed a police report about the incident.

The DOL says that in the days that followed, Glynn’s other son, Clint Rivet, pressured workers to recant their story saying that if they didn’t all work on the farm would stop.

Glynn transferred ownership of Rivet & Sons to his sons following the incident.

Copyright 2022 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Watch for us in your inbox.

Stay up to date with the latest news by downloading the BRProud App from the App Store or Google Play.