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When the season ended, Leach was given her termination papers. But upon discovering that there was still work available at Bland Farms, she tried to reapply for her old position. Leach says she was called a quitter and an unreliable employee and told to seek employment elsewhere.

When Morton learned of this treatment, he sought a hearing and laid out his case against the onion producer, demonstrating Bland Farm's transparent discriminatory hiring practices. "Bland had tried to discourage Ms. Leach by making her travel an extremely long way to find a menial job," Morton began. The farm claimed to advertise for positions by word of mouth, yet no farm employee could cite a specific example. And finally, Bland Farms placed advertisements in local newspapers, only to deny the advertised positions to qualified domestic applicants.

Morton told the court that the farm's problem with Leach wasn't personal; it was policy. Morton had received other complaints from U.S. farmworkers whose employment overtures were rebuked by Bland Farms. He pointed out that Bland Farms employed as few as five U.S. workers out of a harvest workforce of 800 in the spring of 2000. Bland Farms agreed to a settlement and an admission of intentional wrongdoing, paying the plaintiffs $75,000 in damages and "admitting liability for intentional violations of the complainants' civil rights." Morton's case is believed to be the first successful discrimination claim by a U.S. citizen against an H-2A employer for illegally preferring foreign workers.

Morton points out that Bland's hiring practices, while unlawful, are not unusual. "Growers have a lot to gain," Morton says. "They have greater power over foreign workers because they are unfamiliar with U.S. laws." Typically, he says, a grower provides H-2A workers with lodging, food, and a temporary visa, all of which may be revoked upon termination of employment. Although the program has some built-in safeguards, advocates argue that these protections are regularly violated. Says Morton: "Guest workers commonly believe that if they complain about violations of their rights, they will be fired and not asked to return."

Morton is not the most popular figure among Georgia agricultural producers. Growers filed five separate complaints against him with the Georgia Bar last August alone; all were dismissed in September. Morton takes the backlash as evidence of a job well done. "Excessive bar complaints are the first sign that you have a meritorious claim," he says.

As for Leach, she is still grating onions at Bland Farms, though she now works normal hours. Her ankle, while stiff, is getting better. Now and again, her eyes well up, only it's not because of the pain in her foot. She's holding the grater a little too close to her nose. Even the sweetest onions can sometimes cause tears.