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Safeway stops selling produce from Brighton farm amid federal labor investigation

Safeway has stopped selling produce from a Brighton farm that is under federal investigation for labor law violations.

The grocery giant ended its arrangement with Star Farms a few weeks ago, said Kris Staaf, a Safeway spokesperson.

The announcement comes after The Denver Post last month reported that the farm has repeatedly violated federal laws surrounding wages and treatment of its migrant workers.

The U.S. Department of Labor has an active investigation into the farm. The workers’ attorneys, meanwhile, filed a demand letter last month to Star Farms’ owner, Angelo Palombo, over nearly two months of unpaid wages.

When reached by phone Friday, Palombo blamed the lost sales on The Post’s story. He then hung up.

Palombo has been hit with at least $209,000 in penalties and back-wage repayments during the past 17 years because of federal investigations and settlement agreements in civil lawsuits.

Workers — nearly all of whom are seasonal laborers from Mexico — have said the farm owner does not pay them on time or at all and does not provide drinking water or clean bathrooms in the fields.

Star Farms also sells produce to other Colorado grocery chains, including Kroger-owned stores. Representatives from the company’s Colorado branch have not responded to repeated requests for comment on its deal with the Brighton farm.

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