By MATTHEW WEAVER

Capital Press

PASCO, Wash. -- While the two-year labor battle at a Washington state dairy remains on hold pending the union's legal appeals, the farmer vows to see that justice is served.

Dick Bengen, who owns the Ruby Ridge Dairy with his wife, Ruby, said his workers have rallied behind him. He has approximately 40 employees on the 2,240-acre farm, which has 1,900 cows.

Bengen said he feels an obligation to other farmers to see the conflict through to its conclusion.

Several workers sued the Ruby Ridge Dairy in 2009, claiming they were fired for union activities, denied lunch breaks and threatened by the Bengens.

The Bengens countersued in February 2011, alleging the United Farm Workers union encouraged employees to breach their contracts and commit wrongful acts and denying the claims made by the union and the workers.

The trial had been set for late this month, pending legal appeals by the United Farm Workers union.

Last June, Franklin County Superior Court Judge Cameron Mitchell ruled on some of the issues. He found "clear and convincing evidence" that the union knowingly published false statements about the dairy and the Bengens on its website.

Monica Wasson, commissioner of Washington's Division III Court of Appeals upheld Mitchell's rulings Jan. 23. The union has 30 days to file an objection with the state court of appeals, said Mario Martinez, one of the attorneys representing UFW.

Pending the appeal, all proceedings are on hold, he said.

"The standard is not whether the union published false statements; it's whether the union knew it was publishing false statements or was reckless in its publications of those statements," he said.

According to Kirk Peterson, the attorney representing the Bengens, appealing the issues before the trial is unusual.

"Prior to the appeal being issued, there was virtually no cooperation by the UFW defendants on discovery," he said. "I expect we're going to have a great deal of court supervision during the discovery process."

Martinez responded that the union has complied with all discovery rules and procedures in the case.

Asked how long he expects the case to go, Bengen said it's up to the UFW.

"We're in it for the duration," he said.

In other cases, dairies have been advised to settle because of the legal costs involved, Bengen said.

"That's not in our DNA," he said. "Right is right and wrong is wrong. The cost at that point is irrelevant."

Bengen is scheduled to speak during the Washington Farm Labor Association annual labor conference Feb. 15-16 in Ellensburg, Wash.

The union and the Decolonize/Occupy Seattle protest group held a march in Seattle Jan. 27 to deliver a petition to Darigold headquarters. They want the company to pressure the dairy, said Jorge Valenzuela, UFW regional director in Hermiston, Ore.

Ruby Ridge is a member of the Northwest Dairy Association, a farmer-owned cooperative that owns Darigold.