BNA Daily Labor Report October 6, 2005
Grape Grower Agrees to Pay $1.7 Million
A California grape grower has agreed to pay some $1.7 million to settle allegations of requiring off-the-clock work in violation of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, according to a settlement agreement approved Sept. 30 by a federal judge (Hernandez v. Kovacevich “5” Farms, E.D. Cal. , No. 04-5515, 9/30/05). Kovachvich “5” Farms in Earlimart, Calif., agreed to pay some 500 agricultural workers $1.7 million to settle allegations the company required employees to arrive 30 minutes before the official start of work in order to perform non-field work, Judge Oliver W. Wanger of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California said in the order approving the settlement.
“This is a significant victory for the Class,” Wanger said, describing the total settlement fund as being five times the estimated actual damages for uncompensated work time.
The named plaintiffs are employees who were on the organizing committee during the United Farm Workers of America’s attempts to organize workers at the Tulare County, Calif., facility. The UFW lost a secret ballot election in 2003 by a vote of 160-59. After the failed election, the workers filed their proposed class action under federal and state law.
In the class action, the workers--all seasonal field workers in K5's table grape and persimmon enterprises--alleged that while work began at 6:30 a.m., they were expected to arrive at work at 6 a.m. to unload wheelbarrows and supplies so the workers could begin in the fields at exactly 6:30 a.m. The workers were not compensated for this 30-minute period.
In approving the agreement, the court said that by settling the case, the parties were able to guarantee workers a “full or adequate” remedy and that the complexity of the issues could have resulted in a long, extended trial.
The settlement will be paid over two years with each class member receiving more than four times the average actual damages for working off-the-clock. The attorneys will receive $820,000 in fees and costs. The court said that while the attorney’s fee is larger than standard benchmark of 25 percent of the total settlement, the amount was only 85 percent of the lodestar for the work performed. In addition to the monetary settlement, K5 agreed to bring its recordkeeping into compliance with state law and also agreed not to retaliate against the named plaintiffs and their relatives. The company also agreed to provide pruning shears and clippers for all employees and not charge employees for protective work gloves for use during pruning season.
Ronald H. Barsamian of Barsamian Sagui & Moody in Fresno, Calif., represented K5. Thomas Patrick Lynch of Marcos Camacho Law Group in Keene, Calif. and Nancy Lee Maldonado of Miner Barnhill & Gallard in Chicago represented the workers.
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