YAKIMA, Wash. – A federal lawsuit affecting over 600 Yakima Valley farm workers will head to trial.

A news release from Columbia Legal Services said the lawsuit originally filed in 2014 says that Mercer Canyons out of Alderdale, Washington failed to inform previous local employees about higher paying jobs.

Mercer Canyons, one of the largest fruit and vegetable growers in the state applied for a federal temporary agricultural worker program called H-2A that allows employers to bring in foreign workers if they can prove that there are no local or U.S. workers that can do the job.

Federal Judge Stanley Bastian ruled in an earlier decision in 2015 that the lawsuit could proceed as a class action suit, representing the hundreds of people that may possibly be affected by the practices.

Bacilio Ruiz and Jose Amador, two farm workers representing the suit said they tried to get work at Mercer Canyons in 2013. They argued the corporation failed to inform them of vineyard jobs paying $12 an hour according to the release.

“We’re thrilled with the Ninth Circuit’s ruling and look forward to getting this case on schedule for trial,” said Columbia Legal Services Directing Attorney Lori Isley, who is representing the workers.

Judge Bastian will schedule the case for trial after consulting with the attorneys for the parties.