Summary of a Recent
Judicial
Development in
Labor
Cultivation of Pine Straw Considered
"Agricultural Employment"
Jillian HishawNational AgLaw Center Graduate Assistant
In Morante-Navarro v. T&Y Pine Straw, Inc., 350 F.3d 1163 (11th Cir. 2005), temporary migrant workers brought suit against their employer for improper payment of hourly wages under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Workers Protection Act (AWPA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1801-1872 and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 201-219. The United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida recognized the plaintiffs' status as seasonal workers but determined that gathering, baling, and loading pine straw did not fit the meaning of "agricultural employment" under AWPA. See id. at 1166. The Eleventh Circuit, in a matter of first impression, reversed the district court's decision when it determined that the cultivation of pine straws fit within the definition of agricultural employment. See id. at 1166. The Eleventh Circuit concluded "[b]ased on the language of the AWPA, its underlying Congressional intent, the . . . [Department of Labor's] pronouncements, and supportive case law from other jurisdictions, . . . pine straw is an ‘agricultural or horticultural commodity' such that Plaintiffs here were engaged in 'agricultural employment.' Therefore, they fall within the purview of the AWPA." Id. at 1172. The court remanded the matter for proceedings consistent with its opinion.
The case was decided on November 14, 2003; this summary was posted Oct. 5, 2005.