Citations
- 417 F. Supp. 857
Full opinion text
OPINION, FINAL JUDGMENT AND PERMANENT INJUNCTION
CHARLES R. SCOTT, District Judge.
This action by the Secretary of Labor, pursuant to 7 U.S.C. § 2041 et seq. (Supp. 1974), was tried by the Court sitting without a jury on April 26 and 27, 1976. The secretary contended that defendant Golden Gem Growers, Inc. (Golden Gem), employed farm labor contractors who did not possess certificates of registration from the Secretary of Labor, in violation of 7 U.S.C. § 2043(c); that defendant Don Blocker (Blocker) performed the services of a farm labor contractor without the requisite certificate of registration pursuant to 7 U.S.C. §§ 2043(a) and 2045(a); and that defendant Blocker failed to disclose, and post notices of, the terms and conditions of employment for each migrant worker, as required by 7 U.S.C. §§ 2045(b) and (c). The secretary sought a permanent injunction to prevent future violations of the Act. Defendants alternatively argued (1) that Blocker is not a person within the meaning of ‘farm labor contractor’ as defined in Section 2042(b) of the Act; and (2) that, even if Blocker were a farm labor contractor, he is included within the exemption provided by Section 2042(b)(3) of the Act.
FINDINGS OF FACT
Golden Gem Growers, Inc., is a Florida corporation- with its principal place of business in Umatilla, Lake County, Florida. Its business is the processing of citrus fruit into frozen concentrates, fresh fruit and byproducts which are shipped to points outside of the State of Florida. The shareholders of Golden Gem Growers, Inc., are individual growers, and Golden Gem, the corporation, harvests and processes the citrus fruit of each shareholder-grower, in accordance with grower marketing agreements.
Don Blocker is a resident of Crescent City, Florida, where he is employed by Golden Growers, Inc. Blocker has been so employed for the last three seasons. He recruits, hires and furnishes migrant workers to pick citrus fruit for Golden Gem and he usually transports most of the workers to the groves daily. Each workday morning during the season Blocker leaves his home in Crescent City, driving a bus owned by Golden Gem, recruiting, hiring and transporting migrant workers for his crew. This takes about one hour per workday. While a work crew usually consists of 15 to 20 workers, the specific migrant workers who comprise a crew may vary from day to day. Golden Gem exercises no control over how Blocker recruits, hires, transports or otherwise furnishes migrant workers for his crews in the citrus groves. The groves in which Blocker and his crews have been working this season are located primarily around Umatilla, Florida, about 45 miles from Crescent City (where Blocker lives), thus requiring approximately one hour of driving time each way for him. At the groves Blocker’s responsibility is to supervise his crews and operate a loading machine. He keeps records of the number of boxes of citrus picked by each of his workers. A supervisor for Golden Gem visits the groves daily to pick up his records and to check on the harvesting progess. The supervisor stays about 15 minutes at the groves and he is the only representative of Golden Gem, other than Blocker, who appears at the groves. Each day, after working in the groves, Blocker drives his crews back to Crescent City and to their homes. He does all this at least five days a week and sometimes on Saturday and Sunday. Altogether, Blocker spends an average of three to four hours per workday recruiting, hiring, furnishing and transporting workers to and from citrus groves for Golden Gem. He hires workers to pick citrus fruit only. The workers are employed during the season, from December to June. The migrant workers also pick citrus for other harvesters besides defendants Blocker and Golden Gem. Further, Blocker testified that many of the workers who comprise his crews travel north to pick apples, potatoes, cherries and beans during the off season in Florida.
As compensation for these activities, Blocker is paid by Golden Gem a specific amount (presently 8