Charles v. Burton
| Decision Date | 12 March 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 96-9212,96-9212 |
| Citation | 169 F.3d 1322 |
| Parties | 137 Lab.Cas. P 33,831, 12 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C 664 Nicolas CHARLES; Charite Asseigne, et al., Plaintiffs, Counter-Defendants, Appellants, Cross-Appellees, v. John BURTON; Felix Burton, et al., Defendants, Counter-Claimants, Appellees, Cross-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Gregory S. Schell, Migrant Farmworker Justice Project, Belle Glade, FL, John Dennis Carey, Macon, GA, Barbara McDowell, Brian C. Goebel, Gregory A. Castanias, Gregory G. Katsas, Jones, Day, Reavi & Pogue, Washington, DC, for Plaintiffs, Counter-Defendants, Appellants, Cross-Appellees.
Robert Cyril Wilmot, James G. (Glenn) Whitley, Reinhardt, Whitley & Wilmot, P.C., Tifton, GA, for John and Felix Burton.
Daniel C. Hoffman, Frank Thomas Young, Valdosta, GA, for Bobby Hall.
Edward F. Preston, Tillman, McTier, Coleman, Talley, Newbern & Kurrie, Valdosta, GA, for Little Rock Produce Co.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.
Before HATCHETT, Chief Judge, and RONEY and CLARK, Senior Circuit Judges.
The entire panel concurs in Parts I, II, and Part IV which discusses whether the appellees "utilized" Wilner Luxama's services, and Part V which holds that appellees John and Felix Burton may be held liable for actual damages for their failure to verify Luxama's registration under 29 U.S.C. § 1842. Judge Roney dissents from Part III, which holds that the Burtons were joint employers and therefore statutorily required to carry insurance or a liability bond.
In this case involving the Agricultural Workers Protection Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 1801-1872 (1994) (AWPA), fifteen migrant farm workers challenge the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the appellees John Burton, Felix Burton, Little Rock Produce Company and Bobby Hall. The district court found that the appellees were not joint employers of the farm workers under the AWPA and did not award the farm workers actual damages for a violation of the AWPA's registration provision. We affirm in part, reverse in part and remand.
John Burton and Felix Burton (collectively, the Burtons) operated a farm in Brooks County, Georgia. The Burtons principally grew cotton, corn, soy beans and peanuts on their farm. In 1990, the Burtons decided to grow other vegetables--snap beans and cucumbers--and contracted with Little Rock Produce Company (Little Rock), a produce packinghouse, and its president and principal stockholder, Bobby Hall, to subsidize these new crops and to advance money for labor costs. Both were to share in the profits. Little Rock also agreed to supply the seeds for the snap bean and cucumber crops, boxes for the harvest and a trailer to transport the beans, and the Burtons in turn agreed to market these crops through Little Rock.
Pursuant to the contract, Little Rock required the Burtons to fertilize the snap bean crop and to obtain labor for its harvest. In 1990, the Burtons contacted the Georgia Department of Labor to obtain workers for the snap bean crops, and Paul Emile Paul and Wilner Luxama, farm labor contractors (FLC), agreed to supply them with workers for the snap bean harvest. The Burtons eventually agreed to pay Luxama a set amount of money per box of snap beans that his crew picked, and Luxama paid each worker a set amount per box. 1 The 1990 harvest occurred too late in the snap bean season, and consequently, Luxama's workers spent a total of one-half of a day working on the Burtons' farm that year.
The next year, Luxama and his crew returned to the Burtons' farm to harvest the 1991 snap bean crop. Luxama transported the 25 to 35 members of his Florida-based crew between the Burtons' farm and their temporary housing in Ashburn, Georgia. 2 The Burtons would direct Luxama to a particular snap bean field, and his crew picked all of the field's beans. Luxama directed and supervised the harvest of the snap beans, and the Burtons observed the progress of the workers approximately two to three times a day. As they picked the snap beans, the workers placed them in the boxes that Little Rock provided. At the end of the day, Luxama weighed all of the boxes of snap beans, and a crew member placed the boxes onto a trailer that Little Rock owned. The Burtons then transported the snap beans to Little Rock's packinghouse, where a broker selected and sold them.
The Burtons failed to earn a substantial profit from the 1991 snap bean crop, but they decided to plant and harvest them for the next year. 3 In 1992, Luxama returned with his crew to harvest the crop. Luxama's registration as a farm labor contractor with the Department of Labor (as the AWPA requires) had lapsed in 1991 because he had failed to pay a fine that the Department of Labor had imposed. See 29 U.S.C. § 1811. As a result of this lapse and his inability to pay the fine, Luxama failed to purchase liability insurance for the vehicles used to transport his crew as the AWPA requires. See 29 U.S.C. § 1841. 4 The Burtons failed to check Luxama's certification as an FLC, and failed to learn that Luxama no longer carried the required insurance. See 29 U.S.C. §§ 1841(b) (), 1842 (duty to check registration). On the morning of June 3, 1992, one of Luxama's trucks overturned while transporting the workers to the fields, killing the driver and two workers and seriously injuring others. 5
In December 1992, the appellants sued John Burton, Felix Burton, Little Rock and Hall for violations of the AWPA, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. and Georgia's common law of negligence. The appellants alleged, in part, that the appellees violated the "registration, vehicle safety, vehicle insurance, record keeping, wage statement and wage payment provisions of the AWPA," and the appellees moved for summary judgment. After conducting an evidentiary hearing, the district court held that the appellees did not "employ" the workers within the meaning of the AWPA and the FLSA, and granted the appellees summary judgment. See Charles v. Burton, 857 F.Supp. 1574, 1583 (M.D.Ga.1994). This conclusion precluded the appellants from recovering any damages for the appellees' failure to ensure that Luxama's truck carried either insurance or a liability bond. See 29 U.S.C. § 1841(b)(1)(C).
Thereafter, the appellees moved for summary judgment on the remaining claims, with (1) Little Rock and Hall arguing that they had not "utilized" the services of Luxama pursuant to the 29 U.S.C. § 1842; and (2) the Burtons alleging that although they had utilized Luxama's services and violated the registration verification provisions under 29 U.S.C. § 1842, the workers were entitled only to statutory damages under 29 U.S.C. § 1854(c)(1). The district court granted Little Rock's and Hall's motions for summary judgment, finding that they had not "utilized" the services of Luxama and his crew. See Charles v. Burton, No. 92-150-VAL (M.D.Ga. Mar. 7, 1995). 6 The district court later found the Burtons liable for $350 in statutory damages per worker for the violation of section 1842, but refused to award actual damages because the workers' injuries were "too far removed" from the Burtons' failure to verify Luxama's registration. See Charles v. Burton, No. 7:92- cv-150 (M.D.Ga. Sept. 8, 1995) (granting summary judgment); Charles v. Burton, No. 92-150-VAL (M.D.Ga. July 26, 1996) (awarding statutory damages). 7
The issues we discuss are: (1) whether the district court erred in finding that the appellees were not "joint employers" of the appellants, and were thus not liable under section 1841 of the AWPA (Part III); (2) whether the district court erred in finding that appellees Little Rock and Hall did not "utilize" the services of the appellants under section 1842 of the AWPA (Part IV); and (3) whether the district court erred in failing to award the appellants actual damages for the Burtons' violation of that provision (Part V). 8
In 1983, Congress enacted the AWPA "to remove the restraints on commerce caused by activities detrimental to migrant and seasonal agricultural workers; to require farm labor contractors to register under this chapter; and to assure necessary protections for migrant and seasonal agricultural workers, agricultural associations, and agricultural employers." 29 U.S.C. § 1801. Included in the AWPA are requirements (1) that an FLC obtain a certificate from the Secretary of Labor authorizing it to perform its duties, see 29 U.S.C. § 1811(a); 29 C.F.R. § 550.40 (1997); (2) that a person utilizing the services of an FLC verify the existence of such certificate, see 29 U.S.C. § 1842; and (3) that an FLC and an agricultural employer carry either an insurance policy or liability bond covering any vehicle used to transport agricultural workers, see 29 U.S.C. § 1841; 29 C.F.R. 500.120.
The appellees contend, and the district court agreed, that they did not "employ" the appellants, that they were not "agricultural employers" or "joint employers" within the meaning of the AWPA and that the AWPA did not require them to carry insurance or a liability bond under section 1841. 9 See Charles, 857 F.Supp. at 1583. The definition of "employ" is the same under the AWPA and the FLSA. See 29 U.S.C. § 203(1); 29 U.S.C. § 1802(2). An entity "employs" a person under the AWPA and the FLSA if it "suffers or permits" the individual to work. See 29 U.S.C. § 203(g); 29 C.F.R. § 500.20(h)(1). "An entity 'suffers or permits' an individual to work if, as a matter of economic reality, the individual is dependent on the entity." Antenor v. D & S Farms, 88 F.3d 925, 929 (11th Cir.1996) (quoting Goldberg v. Whitaker House Coop., Inc., 366 U.S. 28, 34, 81 S.Ct. 933, 6 L.Ed.2d 100 (1961)).
The AWPA's concept of "employ" also includes "the joint employment principles applicable under the [FLSA]." Aimable v. Long & Scott Farms, 20...
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