By Theo Wells-Spackman/VTDigger
Richard Hulett, owner of Deer Flats Farm and a Select Board member in Pawlet, is facing two charges of simple assault. A Vermont State Police investigation concluded that Hulett assaulted a farm worker and the farm worker’s 15-year-old nephew in an altercation last month.
In a press release issued late Monday, Aug. 5, State Trooper Bruce Cleaver wrote that the incident occurred on July 3, after Hulett received information earlier that day alleging that a person on the property had been attempting to sell illegal narcotics.
“A confrontation ensued between Hulett and Ulver Perez-Roblero, 30, during which Hulett assaulted Perez-Roblero and a juvenile who had attempted to intervene,” Cleaver wrote. “Perez-Roblero and the juvenile sought treatment for minor injuries the following day at Rutland Regional Medical Center,” the release stated.
– Farm workers and Migrant Justice staff and supporters gathered on Deer Flats Farm, July 18.
Hulett declined to discuss the incident, but his wife, Mandy Hulett, said that the charges were false. Perez-Roblero, she said, had attempted to sell her son cocaine the afternoon of July 3. Perez-Roblero has denied that allegation, saying in a written statement translated by Will Lambek, a leader of the farm worker advocacy group Migrant Justice, “I never tried to sell drugs to anyone.”
At a July 18 press conference organized by Migrant Justice and staged near the West Pawlet farm, Perez-Roblero recounted his experiences before a group that had gathered to support him.
He said Hulett knocked on his door after a misunderstood conversation outside the home.
“As soon as I answered, he started hitting me,” Perez-Roblero said in a translation provided by Lambek.
According to Perez-Roblero, his employer began choking him at one point. Perez-Roblero said his nephew tried to intervene but was also struck and injured by Hulett.
Another family member expressed concern for the pair, saying that she had witnessed the incident. The family plans to stay put for now, its members said, explaining that they have nowhere else to go.
Perez-Roblero, who is from Mexico, said he came to the U.S. seven years ago and has moved from farm to farm in Vermont.
After this recent altercation, and having alerted both Migrant Justice and local authorities, Perez-Roblero said he expects to be fired.
Mandy Hulett denied all allegations against her husband in a written statement Aug. 6, calling them “completely false and unfounded.” This case, she said, was an example of Migrant Justice “taking advantage of migrant workers to push their agenda” and encouraging them to “fabricate a story.”
Migrant Justice staff characterized the incident as part of a broader problem, revealing a widespread pattern of toxic power dynamics on Vermont dairy farms. “This is not an isolated incident,” said Marita Canedo, who works for Migrant Justice.
The organization also highlighted its Milk with Dignity program, which holds participating farms to a code of conduct in the treatment of their workers. Milk vendors too, said Canedo, “are responsible for the problems in their supply chain.”
Hulett is scheduled to be arraigned in Rutland Superior Court criminal division on the two counts of simple assault, a misdemeanor, on Sept. 23.
