Saintida v. Tyre

• Decision Date: 10 January 1992
• Docket Number: No. 89-2367-CIV.,89-2367-CIV.
• Citation: 783 F. Supp. 1368
• Parties: Jean SAINTIDA, et al., Plaintiffs, v. TYRE, L., Tyre P., Deshommes, J., Jackor Super Picking, Inc., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida

783 F. Supp. 1368

Jean SAINTIDA, et al., Plaintiffs, v. TYRE, L., Tyre P., Deshommes, J., Jackor Super Picking, Inc., Defendants.

No. 89-2367-CIV.

United States District Court, S.D. Florida, Miami Division.

January 10, 1992.

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Gregory S. Schell, Immokalee, Fla., for plaintiffs.

Donald T. Ryce, Miami, Fla., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION GRANTING PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

MORENO, District Judge.

THIS CAUSE came before the Court upon Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment and Defendants' Cross Motion for Summary Judgment. All parties agreed at oral argument that no trial was necessary and that the Court should dispose of all claims by a judgment as a matter of law.

THE COURT has considered the Motion, responses, oral argument and the pertinent portions of the record, and being otherwise fully advised in the premises, it is

ADJUDGED that the Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED.

Facts

Defendant, Deshommes was doing business as Jackor Super Picking during the 1988-89 south Dade County green bean harvest. During the harvest, Deshommes agreed to furnish labor to pick several area farmers' bean crops. Deshommes hired a number of labor contractors to help harvest the farmers' crop. Among these labor contractors was Fritz Paul. Although Paul never had a certificate of registration as a farm labor contractor, Deshommes hired him on several occasions, without ever inquiring as to Paul's registration status.

Each of the Plaintiffs in this action was recruited by Paul and transported in Paul's van to the jobsite. Paul paid the Plaintiffs for their work from a lump-sum payment he received from Deshommes on a weekly basis. The payments to the Plaintiffs were made in cash. Although employee Social Security (FICA) contributions were withheld from the wages, these FICA taxes were never paid to the Internal Revenue Service.

On April 26, 1989, the Plaintiffs were involved in a serious accident after finishing work. At the time, Paul was transporting the Plaintiffs to a Country Store in order to secure employment for the following day. Plaintiffs were unable to obtain medical care or compensation for lost wages because Paul's van lacked any insurance coverage.

Plaintiffs make their Motion for Summary Judgment on the grounds that Defendants intentionally violated the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (AWPA). The Plaintiffs assert that the following AWPA statutory provisions are applicable:

(1) Registration verification

(2) Recordkeeping

(3) Wage statement

(4) Vehicle insurance; and

(5) Payment

Analysis

The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act guarantees certain protections and benefits to seasonal agricultural workers. See, generally, 29 U.S.C. §§ 1831, 1832, 1841 and 1842. Seasonal agricultural workers are those individuals who are engaged in agricultural employment of a seasonal or temporary nature involving harvesting of crops. 29 U.S.C. § 1802(10)(A); 29 C.F.R. § 500.20(r). The Plaintiffs were employed in harvesting beans, clearly falling within the parameters of this statutory definition. Due to the weather conditions in South Florida, bean harvesting is performed seasonally, rather than year round.

Under the AWPA, farm labor contractors are responsible for providing certain protections to seasonal agricultural workers. See, generally, 29 U.S.C. §§ 1831 and 1841. Defendant, Jackor Super Picking, has stipulated that it was a farm labor contractor at all times relevant to this action, and therefore subject to the AWPA's requirements. Defendant Deshommes is also subject to the AWPA's provisions applicable to farm labor contractors. Deshommes has admitted that he was a registered employee of Jackor Super Picking at all times relevant to this action. In this regard, Deshommes was responsible for complying with the AWPA and its implementing regulations to the same extent as if he had been a farm labor contractor himself. 29 C.F.R. § 500.62.

A. Violations of AWPA's Recordkeeping, Wage Statement and Payment Provisions

The AWPA, 29 U.S.C. § 1831(c)(1), and its attendant regulations, 29 C.F.R. § 500.80(a), impose specific recordkeeping obligations upon farm labor contractors. Among other things, labor contractors are required to accurately record the number of hours worked by each worker and list all withholdings from wages and the specific purpose for each withholding. 29 U.S.C. § 1831(c)(1) and 29 C.F.R. § 500.80(a). During the 1988-89 harvest, only fragmented records of the Plaintiffs' labor were maintained. These records were discarded, despite the AWPA's requirement that the records be maintained for a three year period.

Title 29 U.S.C. § 1831(c)(2), and its attendant regulations, 29 C.F.R. § 500.80(d), require that farm labor contractors provide seasonal workers with wage statements containing certain data regarding their labor on each pay period. These wage statements provide workers with a permanent record of their employment for such purposes as filing tax returns and applying for unemployment compensation benefits. Frenel v. The Freezeland Orchard Company, Inc., 108 Lab. Cases (CCH) paragraph 35,016, at page 45,415 (E.D.Va.1987).

The Defendants failed to comply with the wage statement provisions of the AWPA. The Plaintiffs were paid in cash, with money inserted in bank envelopes. These envelopes failed to comply with the information requirements of the AWPA and its implementing regulation.

Section 1832(a), requires farm labor contractors to pay workers their wages promptly when due. Courts have found that Social Security (FICA) taxes are part of the wage encompassed in this provision and failure to pay these taxes violates the statute. Fields v. Luther, 108 Lab. Cases (CCH) paragraph 35,072, at page 45,667 (D.Md.1988); Bonhomme v. Massaline, 101 Lab. Cases (CCH) paragraph 34,566, at page 46,315 (S.D.Fla.1984); Certilus v. Peeples, 101 Lab. Cases (CCH) paragraph 34,587, at page 46,461 (M.D.Fla.1984).

FICA taxes were withheld from the workers' wages while they were employed at the Defendants' jobsite. However, these sums were never paid to the IRS and no W-2 forms were filed with the Social Security Administration with regard to the Plaintiffs' work.

The Defendants have not disputed the fact that the AWPA's requirements regarding recordkeeping, wage statements and wage payments were not complied with during the course of the Plaintiffs' employment. However, the Defendants contend that they are not liable for these violations, since they did not employ the Plaintiffs. The issue of whether the Defendants employed the Plaintiffs is a legal, as opposed to factual, issue. Beliz v. W.H. McLeod & Sons Packing Co., 765 F.2d 1317, 1327 (5th Cir.1985); Brock v. Mr. W Fireworks, Inc., 814 F.2d 1042, 1045 (5th Cir.1987).¹

The Defendants correctly point out that the provisions of the AWPA apply only to those who "employ" agricultural workers. However, the Defendants' assertion that they did not employ the Plaintiffs is erroneous. Under the AWPA, the term "employ" is given the meaning provided under the Fair Labor Standards Act. 29 U.S.C. § 1802(5).²

Under this definition, an employer "cannot shield himself from liability by placing a recruiter-contractor between himself and the laborers, by giving the recruiter contractor responsibility for direct oversight of the laborers." Monville v. Williams, 107 Lab. Cases (CCH) paragraph 34,979 at page 45,252, 28 WH Cases 497, 501 (D.Md.1987).

B. Violations of AWPA's Vehicle Insurance Provisions

The AWPA requires that any farm labor contractor who transports agricultural workers or causes such workers to be transported obtain insurance at levels prescribed by the Secretary of Labor. 29 U.S.C. § 1841(b)(1)(C) and 29 C.F.R. §§ 500.121 and 500.122. Defendants argue that they are not liable for any violations of the AWPA's vehicle insurance provisions because they did not cause the Plaintiffs to be transported by Paul.

An employer is found to have caused the transportation of harvest workers by a farm labor contractor when this transportation is a "necessary element in obtaining the workers" to harvest the grower's crop. Frenel v. The Freezeland Orchard Company, Inc., 108 Lab. Cases (CCH) paragraph 35,016, at page 45,415, 28 WH Cases (BNA) 666,667 (E.D.Va.1987).

Clearly, Paul's transportation of the harvest workers to the jobsite was a necessary element in his furnishing bean pickers to the Defendants. As is made clear by the affidavits submitted, the workers relied on Paul and other labor contractors for transportation to the jobsite. Few of the workers owned their own vehicles and public transportation was unavailable. Without employer provided transportation, the Plaintiffs in this case would not have been able to pick beans for the Defendants.

Defendants further assert that even if they caused Paul to transport the Plaintiffs to the jobsite, they did not cause the trip that was in progress at the time of the accident. In particular, the Defendants take issue with the Plaintiffs' assertion that this trip would have been covered under the Florida Workers' Compensation Act.

The AWPA provides two means by which agricultural employers and farm labor contractors may satisfy the insurance provisions of the Act. An employer or contractor may purchase an insurance policy or liability bond, providing insurance in the amounts required by the Act. 29 U.S.C. § 1841(b)(1)(C); 29 C.F.R. § 500.120. Alternatively, an employer or labor contractor may provide insurance through a worker's compensation policy. 29 U.S.C. § 1841(c); 29 C.F.R. § 500.122.

The Plaintiffs' injuries resulting from the accident would have been compensable under Florida Workers' Compensation Act. Normally, accidents occurring during an employee's travels to and from work are not considered to have arisen within the scope of employment and, thus, are not compensable under the Florida...