October 2023 - 32

AG LABOR REVIEW
California court gets it right
M
aybe there is something to the old saying
that " Even a broken clock is right twice a
day, " meaning that something that is usually
unreliable can be correct sometimes, by chance or
by luck.
I have spent much of my career working in
California agriculture. While there, I've had many
occasions to witness oral arguments in front of the
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and read through the
opinions and anti-business rulings that have emerged
from the court.
This court has routinely seemed significantly out of
step with the other appellate courts, as well as with the
U.S. Supreme Court.
It seemed to be that proverbial broken clock, except
it could never tell you the correct time. However, it may
have finally got one right.
One of the many vexing issues agricultural employers
face is that when something goes wrong in a worker's
circumstance, their counsel (who are sometimes
unabashedly anti-employer), will try to rope into
FOR EMPLOYERS, THE LESSON
TO BE DRAWN FROM THIS CASE
IS THAT YOU NEED TO BE AWARE
OF THE POTENTIAL FOR 'JOINT
EMPLOYMENT' TO BE ASSERTED,
AND TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM
THAT POTENTIAL LIABILITY.
litigation anyone they perceive to have a penny in their
pocket. They will often try to do this by asserting -
fairly or not - that the entity with that penny was
somehow responsible for their client's malady.
In this situation, they will attempt to assert that the
injured party was injured by not just the responsible
party, but also by others who had business dealings with
that party. They will argue that the parties were joint
employers.
This circumstance should be concerning for all
Cultivators designed for
Blueberries, Strawberries, and
Vegetables in Plastic Culture
employers: the present administration has sought
to expand this notion of " joint employment " and
consequent " joint liability. "
In this case, Morales-Garcia vs. Better Produce Inc., a
group of berry pickers in Southern California asserted
wage and hour violations. They were hired by growers
to harvest the fruit, which was marketed by separate
entities. The berries were packed and distributed in
operations separate from the farms.
The marketers entered into agreements with the
* Excellent weed removal provided by rolling cultivators
or disk gangs.
* Renovate Strawberries, cultivate Blueberries.
* Cultivate close to the edge of plastic.
* Toolbars include Hydraulic Width Adjustment.
* Very adjustable for use on many crops.
Hillside Cultivator Co. LLC
911 Disston View Dr., Lititz, PA 17543
Visit our web site: www.hillsidecultivator.com
or Call (717) 669-3158
32 | OCTOBER 2023
growers for the right to market and sell the berries,
providing the growers with packaging materials. The
growers were responsible for growing the berries and for
supervising and directing the farmworkers harvesting
the berries. The growers were also responsible for
providing the workers with necessary equipment.
The marketers had the sole authority to make decisions
regarding the berries' sale, and after deducting various
fees and the marketers' sales commissions, remitted the
balance of the monies to the growers.
In this case, the growers at some point stopped
paying the farmworkers and filed for bankruptcy. The
farmworkers filed suit in Federal District Court against
the growers and the marketers as joint employers.
The Federal District Court ruled against the
farmworkers, and they appealed the decision. The federal
appeals court agreed with the lower court's finding.
The appellate court found the workers were not
economically dependent on the berry marketers.
http://www.hillsidecultivator.com
October 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2023
