Maldonado v. Lucca
| Decision Date | 10 July 1986 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 85-1471. |
| Citation | 636 F. Supp. 621 |
| Parties | Efrain MALDONADO, Jesus Colon, Rene Torres, Nelson Garcia, Hector Colon, Reinaldo Clarin, Angel Caraballo, Daniel Caraballo, Hernan Cortes, Luis Acevedo, Benjamin Pabon, Roberto Claudio, Pablo Sanchez, Alfredo Muniz, Felipe Melendez, and Ketsy Alicea (Merced), Plaintiffs, v. Rusty LUCCA, Lawrence Errera, d/b/a Bar O Farms, and Pedro Bermudez, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey |
Laurence E. Norton, II, Camden Regional Legal Services, Inc., Farmworker Div., Vineland, N.J., for plaintiffs.
William S. Cappuccio, Hammonton, N.J., for defendants Rusty Lucca and Lawrence Errera, d/b/a Bar O Farms.
This opinion addresses the amount of damages, attorney's fees, and costs owed to plaintiffs by defendants Rusty Lucca and Lawrence Errera, d/b/a Bar O Farms. On February 24, 1986 the court issued its findings of fact and conclusions of law, pursuant to a week-long trial on liability issues. The court found, inter alia, that defendants Lucca and Errera were "joint employers" with crewleader and co-defendant Pedro Bermudez under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq., and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act ("MSPA"), 29 U.S.C. § 1801 et seq. Accordingly, they are liable to plaintiffs for unpaid minimum wages for work performed on defendants' blueberry farm in the summer of 1984.
The damage phase of the trial was held March 10, 1986. At its conclusion, counsel for defendants Lucca and Errera stipulated that the figures set out in the Joint Final Pre-Trial Order accurately represented the unpaid minimum wages owed to plaintiffs. The aggregate amount of unpaid wages is $3,636.81.1 The FLSA provides that successful plaintiffs shall recover costs and attorney's fees. Accordingly, plaintiffs' counsel has filed a motion for costs and attorney's fees.
The court incorporates by reference its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law in Maldonado v. Lucca, 629 F.Supp. 483 (D.N.J.1986).
As noted, defendants stipulated that actual damages total $3,636.81 for violation of the minimum wage provision, 29 U.S.C. § 206(a)(5).
Section 216(b) of the FLSA provides that defendants found to have violated the act's minimum wage or maximum hour provisions shall pay to plaintiffs damages consisting of unpaid wages and "an additional equal amount as liquidated damages." 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). However, employers have a defense to this otherwise mandatory liquidated damages provision. Section 11 of the Portal-to-Portal Act, 29 U.S.C. § 260, provides:
if the employer shows to the satisfaction of the court that the act or omission giving rise to such action was in good faith and that he had reasonable grounds for believing that his act or omission was not a violation of the FLSA, the court may, in its sound discretion, award no liquidated damages or award any amount thereof not to exceed the amount specified in section 216 of this title.
29 U.S.C. § 260.
The employer thus has the "`plain and substantial burden of persuading the court by proof that his failure to obey the statute was both in good faith and predicated upon such reasonable grounds that it would be unfair to impose upon him more than a compensatory verdict.'" Marshall v. Brunner, 668 F.2d 748, 753 (3rd Cir.1982), quoting Rothman v. Publicker Industries, 201 F.2d 618, 620 (3rd Cir.1953). Without such a showing, a district court has no discretion to mitigate an employer's statutory liability for liquidated damages. Id. See also Williams v. Tri-County Growers, Inc., 747 F.2d 121, 128-30 (3rd Cir.1984).
In its previous opinion, the court observed that defendants had attempted to meet their legal obligations to the farm-workers.
The court believes that defendants Lucca and Errera did act responsibly in requiring their crew leaders to submit payroll records and to provide proof of their state and federal certification. They complied with the state's investigation of Bermudez' crew members' claims for unpaid wages and willingly wrote checks to satisfy the amounts the state decided were due. However, the court is obliged to find that defendants Lucca and Errera were plaintiffs' employers within the meaning of the federal scheme. Defendants' prior conduct and compliance may well mitigate the amount of damages assessed against them, but the issue of damages is not before the court at this time.
The good faith requirement of 29 U.S.C. § 260 requires that an employer demonstrate an "honest intention to ascertain and follow the dictates of the FLSA." Marshall v. Brunner, supra, 668 F.2d at 753, citing Laffey v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., 567 F.2d 429, 464 (D.C.Cir.1976), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1086, 98 S.Ct. 1281, 55 L.Ed.2d 792 (1978). The court has already made specific findings which appear to support defendants' contention that they had such an "honest intention."
— Defendants required crew leaders to submit payroll records on a daily basis. Findings of Fact, ¶ 17.
— Lucca scanned those payroll records to check that blueberry pickers were making the minimum wage. Id. ¶ 18.
— Defendants complied with the state Wage and Hour Division's request to write checks to members of Bermudez' crew for unpaid minimum wages. They also cooperated with the state's investigation of those claims. Id. ¶ 20.
— Errera attended an informational meeting in 1984 where state and federal labor officials explained the crew leaders' legal obligations. Id. ¶ 23.
In addition, during the damages phase of the trial, Lucca reiterated his previous testimony that he was aware that pickers were entitled to receive at least the minimum wage and that he and Errera attempted to comply with state and federal law, as they understood it.
Nonetheless, one factor precludes that court from finding that defendants acted wholly reasonably and in good faith. While defendants cooperated with the state's investigation of the unpaid wage claims filed by members of Bermudez' crew, they made compensation for those claims conditional on workers' waiver of any other related claims. Id. ¶ 21. Defendants were responsible, as joint employers, for paying or making sure their workers were paid the minimum wage. This obligation is entirely separate from their obligation to comply with other provisions of state and federal law, such as record-keeping, furnishing written descriptions of employment, or issuing pay statements reflecting deductions for FICA or unemployment insurances.
Requiring workers to waive any and all related claims in order to receive longoverdue benefits strikes this court as a duplicitous attempt to capitalize on the workers' utter lack of bargaining power. The workers deserved their wages, regardless of whatever other claims they may have had. Defendants' insistence that they waive future claims as a condition of receiving a check signifies a high degree of self-interest and a fundamental lack of good faith. Furthermore, such a waiver conflicts directly with protections guaranteed by the MSPA, 29 U.S.C. § 1856, and FLSA (see Brooklyn Savings Bank v. O'Neil, 324 U.S. 697, 65 S.Ct. 895, 89 L.Ed. 1296 (1945)). Offering wages not in dispute in exchange for a waiver of other claims also violates the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law, N.J.S.A. 34:11-4.8.
Accordingly, defendants Lucca and Errera have not met the two-pronged test of good faith and reasonableness under the Portal-to-Portal Act's defense and the court must assess liquidated damages in an amount equal to the actual damages suffered, in this case $3,636.81. See 29 U.S.C. §§ 216(b), 260.
The court's previous opinion held that defendants Lucca and Errera were also "joint employers" under the MSPA, 29 U.S.C. § 1801 et seq. Consequently, plaintiffs are entitled to damages for violations of that act in an amount sufficient to further its purposes. Congress enacted MSPA to protect migrant and seasonal agricultural workers, who have historically been exploited. See generally H.R.Rep. No. 97-885, 97th Cong., 2d Sess., page 7 (1982), reprinted in 1982 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 4547, 4553 ("House Report"). Under the MSPA, the court is authorized to assess liquidated damages of up to $500.00 per violation for each plaintiff.
In order to recover for violations of the MSPA, plaintiffs must show that defendants' violations of the act were "intentional." 29 U.S.C. § 1854(c)(1). As used in the MSPA, "intentional" means "conscious or deliberate and does not require a specific intent to violate the law." Alvarez v. Joan of Arc, Inc., 658 F.2d 1217, 1224 (7th Cir. 1981). Under this standard, persons are responsible for and liable for the natural consequences of their acts. Castillo v. Givens, 704 F.2d 181, 197, 198 (5th Cir. 1983); De la Fuente v. Stokely-Van Camp, Inc., 514 F.Supp. 68, 79 (C.D.Ill. 1981); Steward v. James, 519 F.Supp. 315, 321 (E.D.N.Y.1981).
In Castillo v. Givens, supra, the court held that because a farmer was aware of the existence of a law requiring farm labor contractors to carry identification cards in order to be paid, his failure to keep payroll records on the individual plaintiffs was intentional within the meaning of the MSPA. 704 F.2d at 198. The court also noted that its standard for "intentional violation" facilitates the enforcement through the MSPA of otherwise unenforceable rights created by the FLSA. Id. at 198, n. 41, quoting Note, A Defense of the Farm Labor Contractor Registration Act, 59 Tex. L.Rev. 531, 537 n. 61 (1981). For example, the penalties authorized under the MSPA can be used to address an employer's failure to maintain proper payroll records, as required under both acts. Id.
In the instant case, both Lucca and Errera testified that they knew that workers were entitled to earn at least the minimum wage and that accurate payroll...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
In re Intelligroup Securities Litigation
..."to be granted very sparingly." See NL Indus. Inc. v. Commercial Union Ins. Co., 935 F.Supp. 513, 516 (D.N.J.1996); Maldonado v. Lucca, 636 F.Supp. 621, 630 (D.N.J.1986). 25. An IPO is the first sale of a corporation's common shares to investors on a public stock exchange. The monies paid b......
-
Commodity Futures Trading Com'n v. Rosenberg
...Inc., 830 F.Supp. 826, 831 (D.N.J.1992)(Gerry, C.J.), and relief under the rule is granted "very sparingly." Maldonado v. Lucca, 636 F.Supp. 621, 630 (D.N.J.1986)(Barry, J.). For the reasons set forth below, I find that in arriving at my decision in Rosenberg I, I overlooked no factual matt......
-
Castillo v. Case Farms of Ohio, Inc.
...in the same suit that will in part compensate damage caused by violations of the Act, and the total amount of the award. Maldonado v. Lucca, 636 F.Supp. 621 (D.N.J.1986) citing Beliz, 765 F.2d at 1332-33. Using factors such as these, courts within the purview of the United States Court of A......
-
Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Rosenberg, Civil Action No. 97-2927 (D. N.J. 3/1/2000)
...Inc., 830 F.Supp. 826, 831 (D.N.J. 1992)(Gerry, C.J.), and relief under the rule is granted "very sparingly." Maldonado v. Lucca, 636 F.Supp. 621, 630 (D.N.J. 1986)(Barry, J.). For the reasons set forth below, I find that in arriving at my decision in Rosenberg I, I overlooked no factual ma......