Republican Lt. Gov. John Rodgers launched a new line of attack against Democratic challenger Molly Gray at Vermont Public’s debate on Tuesday, accusing the farm operated by Gray’s family of “mistreatment of migrant workers” and suggesting Gray should have spoken out.
Gray, who served as lieutenant governor between 2021 and 2023, often references her childhood at Four Corners Farm in Newbury on the campaign trail, as well as her work supporting immigrants in Vermont as the director of the Vermont Afghan Alliance. But she is not involved in the farm’s operation, according to her brother, farm manager Peter Gray. She immediately denounced Rodgers for implicating her family.
The issue, which involved housing quality for seasonal laborers on federal H-2A visas, had not previously been reported. Hundreds of pages of records released by Rodgers’ campaign present a series of investigations beginning in 2024 into housing at the farm, one settlement in 2025, and regulatory actions that exasperated Gray’s brother to the point of appealing to the governor’s office for help.
Gray does not appear in the records compiled by Rodgers’ campaign, and she told Vermont Public on Thursday that she learned of the housing issue from her brother in early 2025 when he was working to resolve it.
Accommodations provided to the over 500 seasonal H-2A workers in Vermont are held to specific federal standards – which is somewhat unique in the world of farmworker housing. The state Department of Labor partners with the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets to conduct inspections before workers arrive. State monitors routinely visit workers during the growing season.
During the summer of 2024, state agriculture and labor agents visited Four Corners Farm and noted several potential violations related to the quality of housing provided for 10 migrant workers there. Those concerns included livestock being kept too close to the workers’ kitchen area, a lack of insulation in the living quarters, and holes in window screens that let in bugs, among other issues.
After a referral, the Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Administration sent its own inspector to the farm, who determined that the issues weren’t as widespread as the other state agents had alleged.
VOSHA ultimately cited the farm for failing to provide “an adequate sanitary food preparation area” for workers and for failing to keep certain documents of workplace injuries and illnesses. The records show that the Gray family paid a settlement in early 2025 and fixed the issues, and VOSHA closed the case.
Right around the same time, state employees initiated another round of inspections at Four Corners ahead of the 2025 growing season, this time with a state fire safety inspector. Workers were not living at the farm at the time.
An Agency of Agriculture staffer noted a lack of running water, and the fire inspector noted that the units needed handrails, different smoke detectors and their own bathrooms, among other code issues. The farm would need to resolve the problems in a matter of days in order to get their worker visas approved for the upcoming season, according to an account by farm manager Peter Gray.
Peter Gray was surprised by the results of the inspection and began reaching out to state officials. In a January 2025 email to Gov. Phil Scott’s office, Peter Gray wrote that the farm had already poured thousands of dollars into fixing up the farmworker housing the prior year. The results of the latest inspection meant that the farm needed to comply with a new and different standard for the housing, essentially “‘mov[ing] the goal post’ just months before the start of the growing season.’’
“At this point, we have concerns that the goal of this process is not to help us succeed, but rather to see us fail, and shut down as a Vermont family farm,” Peter Gray continued.
Soon after, state officials met with the farm staff and helped determine a path forward.
At Tuesday’s debate, Rodgers asked Molly Gray whether she used her influence to direct the investigation into the farm. She refuted any suggestion that she helped sway the situation. She did not hold elected office at the time of the inquiries included in the records.
According to Kendal Smith, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Labor, the department does not have any current or active cases with the farm, and the housing units used for the 2026 season passed inspection. The records indicate that a separate federal inquiry into farmworker housing was closed in March 2025.
Smith said H-2A housing complaints aren’t especially commonplace.
“Like any program that we administer in state government, from time to time, there are complaints and things come up. But I would not say this takes up an inordinate amount of capacity for us,” Smith said in an interview on Wednesday.
In an emailed statement, Peter Gray emphasized that the farm worked quickly to bring the housing into compliance and up to code when issues arose.
“We care deeply about our employees, they are like family to us and we could not farm without their help,” he wrote. “What was said and done by John Rodgers not only hurts our farm but the many other Vermont farmers who depend on the H2A program and value their employees as deeply as we do.”
Molly Gray echoed that sentiment in her own written statement. “Our family farms are what make Vermont special and for John Rodgers to attack them, particularly when all issues were promptly addressed in this case, shows more about him than anyone else,” she wrote.
Recent Vermont Public polling has shown Gray edging ahead of Rodgers in the race for the state’s second-highest post. Election Day is Nov. 3.