Leach v. Johnston

• Decision Date: 07 October 1992
• Docket Number: No. 90-1138-Civ-J-16.,90-1138-Civ-J-16.
• Citation: 812 F. Supp. 1198
• Parties: James E. LEACH, Jr., John Barber, Jr., Charles Hill, Jr., James Lemons, and Jose Mateo-Diego, Plaintiffs, v. Albert B. JOHNSTON, Thomas Alexander, Sr., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida

812 F. Supp. 1198

James E. LEACH, Jr., John Barber, Jr., Charles Hill, Jr., James Lemons, and Jose Mateo-Diego, Plaintiffs, v. Albert B. JOHNSTON, Thomas Alexander, Sr., Defendants.

No. 90-1138-Civ-J-16.

United States District Court, M.D. Florida, Jacksonville Division.

October 7, 1992.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Gregory S. Schell, Florida Rural Legal Services, Inc., Belle Glade, FL, for plaintiffs.

Ronald E. Clark, Palatka, FL, for defendant Johnston.

Alan Boyd Fields, Jr., Dowda & Fields, Chartered, Palatka, FL, for defendant Alexander.

OPINION

JOHN H. MOORE, II, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff James E. Leach, Jr. ("Leach") commenced this action against Defendants Albert B. Johnston ("Johnston") and Thomas Alexander, Sr. ("Alexander") on December 21, 1990. The Complaint sought monetary damages, declaratory relief, injunctive relief and the recovery of costs and attorney's fees as a result of the Defendants' alleged violations of sections of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act ("MSAWPA"), 29 U.S.C. § 1801, et seq., and the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. § 201, et seq.

On April 2, 1991, the Court held a Preliminary Pretrial Conference and set the case on track. Contemporaneously, the Court allowed the filing of an Amended Complaint (Doc. # 13) joining Plaintiffs John Barber, Jr. ("Barber"), Charles Hill, Jr. ("Hill"), James Lemons ("Lemons") and Jose Mateo-Diego¹. The Court held a non-jury trial on December 9 and 10, 1991. After due consideration of the evidence adduced at trial, the record in its entirety and the proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law submitted by counsel, the Court makes the following Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law in compliance with Rule 52(a), Fed.R.Civ.P.

Findings of Fact

1. Defendant Johnston, along with his brother, operated a farm west of Bunnell in Flagler County, Florida on which cabbage, cucumbers, squash, peppers and potatoes were produced for sale in interstate commerce at all times pertinent to this litigation. Johnston is a resident of Bunnell, Florida.

2. Defendant Alexander is a resident of Palm Coast, Florida who has worked as a farm labor contractor for at least the past twenty years. In that time, he has furnished agricultural labor to farms in Florida and other states. Specifically, Alexander furnished agricultural workers to Johnston for work on Johnston's vegetable crops for the seasons of 1987-88, 1988-89 and 1989-90.

3. Plaintiffs were agricultural workers in Alexander's crew that worked on Johnston's farm at the respective times specified below.

4. Plaintiff Leach worked on Johnston's farm during the 1988-89 vegetable season. Although Leach's home was in Wendell, North Carolina (Doc. # 39 at p. 4), he was living in Apex, North Carolina at the time of his recruitment to Johnston's farm (Id. at p. 7).

5. Plaintiff Barber worked on Johnston's farm during the vegetable seasons of 1987-88, 1988-89 and 1989-90. Barber's residence was not established at trial.

6. Plaintiff Hill worked on Johnston's farm during the vegetable seasons of 1987-88, 1988-89 and 1989-90. Like Barber, Hill's residence was not established.

7. Plaintiff Lemons worked on Johnston's farm during the vegetable seasons of 1988-89 and 1989-90. Lemons' home was in Smithfield, North Carolina (Doc. # 36 at p. 6).

8. Alexander transported his crew to several farms in different states throughout the year. He described his "sequence" as follows: (1) his crew usually arrived at Johnston's farm in late November and labored for six months, finishing in late May or early June; (2) the crew departed Johnston's and traveled to North Carolina to work on farms located near Elizabeth City; (3) around July, the crew journeyed to Delaware for a couple of months; (4) in September, the crew returned to North Carolina, this time near Smithfield, to work until November; (5) in November, the routine began again at Johnston's (Doc. # 37 at pp. 63-65).

9. Alexander paid his crew on an hourly basis for their work on Johnston's farm. The wage rate was normally the federal minimum wage: $3.35 per hour prior to April 1, 1990; $3.80 per hour from April 1, 1990 to March 31, 1991.

10. The tasks performed by Alexander's crew on Johnston's farm were unskilled and required little direct supervision. The crew harvested cabbage, peppers and cucumbers. They graded and packed cucumbers and potatoes as well. Additionally, they assisted in the planting of Johnston's cabbage crop. The crew's daily routine, and consequently their salary was contingent solely on the decisions made by Johnston and his farm operation, without Alexander's input (see discussion below).

11. Johnston maintained a migrant labor camp on his property which housed members of Alexander's crew, including Plaintiffs. Johnston did not, in the ordinary course of his business, regularly provide housing on a commercial basis to the general public, despite his assertions to the contrary (Doc. # 37 at pp. 5-6, 47). See 29 U.S.C. § 1823(c). Thus, if a person resided at Johnston's camp, he was expected to work (Id. at p. 66).

12. In January 1989, during a "hard winter" (Doc. # 43 at p. 23), Johnston's camp was cited for major and minor violations² due to the lack of heating facilities, raw sewage on the camp grounds, holes in bedroom walls, floors and windows, lack of hot water and inoperable toilets. Following their identification, some of these conditions were repaired promptly by Johnston; others took several days to repair (Id. at pp. 18-19). All deficiencies at the camp were corrected by or paid for by Johnston without any contribution from Alexander (Doc. # 37 at p. 43).

13. In or about November, 1987, in North Carolina, Alexander recruited Barber and Hill for work with his crew on Johnston's farm during the 1987-88 vegetable season (Doc. # 36 at pp. 42, 69). In or about November, 1988, in North Carolina, Alexander recruited Barber, Hill, Leach and Lemons for work with his crew on Johnston's farm during the 1988-89 vegetable season (Id. at pp. 5-6, 43, 69; Doc. # 37 at pp. 67-68, 70). In or about November, 1989, in North Carolina, Alexander recruited Barber, Hill and Lemons for work with his crew on Johnston's farm during the 1989-90 vegetable season (Doc. # 36 at pp. 8, 43, 69). In each of these recruitments, Alexander failed to provide any Plaintiff with a written statement of the terms and conditions of the prospective employment (Doc. # 36 at pp. 7-8, 44-45, 69; Doc. # 39 at p. 8).

14. Lucille Jones ("Jones"), an employee of Alexander's, provided the workers with this disclosure upon their arrival at Johnston's camp. Ms. Jones would read the terms of employment to each member of Alexander's crew and would ask if the worker understood those terms. She then had the crew member sign a form indicating that they understood and accepted the terms of employment (Doc. # 43 at pp. 38-40). See Jt. Defts. Ex. 39 and 49³. She also posted disclosures in vehicles, pay areas and eating areas (Id. at pp. 40-41).

15. Johnston and his brother made all decisions regarding the planting, irrigating and cultivating of his vegetable crops (Doc. # 37 at p. 13). Likewise, Johnston and his brother made all decisions concerning the application of pesticides and herbicides to the crops (Id. at p. 14); and regarding the sale and marketing of the crops produced on the farm (Id.). Johnston did not consult Alexander with regard to any of these matters (Id. at pp. 13-14).

16. Each work-day morning, Alexander received daily job assignments for his crew from Johnston or Johnston's foreman (Id. at pp. 79-80). Johnston or his foreman would specify the task or tasks to be performed by Alexander's crew that day, as well as the amount of work to be performed (Id. at pp. 79-81). Johnston testified, "I inform Mr. Alexander of which job that we're going to or what we will be doing the next day.... I will direct Mr. Alexander which direction he needs to go with the crew and what job they need to do." (Id. at pp. 14-15). Johnston further testified that he had the ability to split Alexander's crew between two activities, and instruct the crew through Alexander which particular crops needed the most attention based on market activity (Id. at pp. 26-28). Johnston stated that he could instruct Alexander to move his crew to other fields to find better produce. Alexander testified that Johnston's foreman would essentially supervise the crew's work, and give additional instructions or modifications to Alexander during the day on Johnston's behalf (Id. at pp. 85-87).

17. As noted above, Johnston's daily assignments were largely dependent on market activity. Occasionally, market conditions would cause Johnston to cease harvesting operations on his farm for short periods of time (Id. at pp. 15-18, 25-27). Johnston's decision would impact Alexander's crew by idling them until Johnston decided that market conditions warranted additional harvesting. As stated earlier, these marketing decisions were made solely by Johnston and his brother, without Alexander's input.

18. Johnston also decided whether his potato crop would be sold for use as table stock or for potato chips. This decision had a significant impact on Alexander's crew, since the crew was only utilized to grade potatoes which were sold for table stock (Id. at p. 37). Again, Alexander had no input in this decision.

19. Johnston and his brother made all of the substantial capital investment to the operations on their farm. Johnston provided the buckets, bins, tractors, carts, bags and knives used in harvesting operations (Id. at pp. 22, 82-84, 86). He also furnished the packing and storing facilities, and provided the machinery used in the planting of the cabbage crop. The vehicles used to transport the crew were Alexander's sole significant piece of capital investment.

20. Johnston also invested substantial capital towards the operation and maintenance of his labor camp. This included paying...