Two Oregon farmworkers have won a default judgment of $46,000 against a defunct hemp company and its owner in a lawsuit over unpaid wages.

The farmworkers — Arnulfo Hernandez Gaspar and Jaime Bucho Sanchez — filed a complaint last year against BT Ventures and its owner, Thomas Dubiel, as well as a labor contractor.

The plaintiffs claim they were recruited to work at a hemp processing warehouse in Josephine County, Ore., where they cut, hung and packed the crop in 2019.

The complaint said they were promised $19 an hour in wages and paid for the first two weeks of work, but didn’t receive payment for the final 120 hours.

BT Ventures has filed an administrative dissolution with Oregon’s Secretary of State’s Office, and Thomas Dubiel could not be reached for comment.

Neither the company nor Dubiel responded to the allegations, which were filed in federal court, and a magistrate judge recommended entering a default judgment against the defendants.

The magistrate judge said the plaintiffs stated sufficient claims under the Agricultural Worker Protection Act and that the circumstances weighed in their favor.

The complaint was formally served on the defendants and there’s “no evidence” that their failure to respond was due to “excusable neglect,” said U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke in Medford, Ore.

“Without an appearance by the defendants and their side of the facts or any other countervailing evidence, the factors weigh in plaintiffs’ favor, and the court cannot find a reason to deny the motion for default judgment,” Clarke said.

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken has now affirmed that recommendation and awarded the plaintiffs more than $36,000 in unpaid wages, damages and penalties, as well as about $10,000 in attorney fees and court costs.

The judgment does not affect Pierce Farm Labor of Rogue River, Ore., which filed an answer challenging the complaint’s allegations but has also filed an administrative dissolution.

The hemp industry boomed in 2019, when it reached a national peak of more than 500,000 acres, but it has since contended with a surplus of the crop.

Hemp prices dropped due to the excess inventory, resulting in legal disputes over payment and national acreage falling by more than half since then.