On July 12, 2005, nearly 500 U.S. workers filed a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington alleging that two local growers and a labor recruiting company called Global Horizons unlawfully discriminated against US workers. The plaintiffs, represented by Columbia Legal Services of Yakima, claim that the defendants "systematically and intentionally preferred H-2A workers from Thailand" over local workers in violation of the federal Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act as well as federal and state laws that prohibit discrimination based on race or national origin. The federal H-2A guest worker program prohibits an employer from hiring foreign workers for temporary or seasonal agricultural work unless local workers are unavailable. At issue in the case is whether the defendants, through their own actions, created the shortage of local employees. The local workers claim that the defendants misled local workers, in some cases offering work over the telephone but not actually providing work opportunities, and, in others, changing the terms of employment when the local workers arrived on site. The plaintiffs allege that the defendants attempted to force the local workers out of their jobs, which, in turn, made it possible for the defendants to hire foreign workers. In addition to monetary damages, the plaintiffs are seeking a permanent injunction requiring Global Horizons to provide local workers with accurate information in English and Spanish.