Good Fruit Grower

March 15

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8 MARCH 15, 2015 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com T he Washington Supreme Court will take a road trip to Toppenish in eastern Washington on March 17 to hear a case that could have a major impact on the state's agricultural employers, including orchardists. At issue is whether employers who pay workers p i e c e - r a t e wages owe them addi- tional pay for rest breaks. The case stems from a class-ac- tion lawsuit filed in 2013 in the U.S. District Court for Western Washington against Sakuma Brothers Farms, a berry producer in Burlington, Washington. It was filed by the Seattle law firm Terrell Marshall Daudt & Willie and Columbia Legal Services on behalf of two migrant workers. Sakuma pays hourly workers for eight hours of work per day, even though they take two ten-minute rest breaks. But it does not pay workers for rest time when they are paid by piece rate. The suit alleged that Sakuma failed to comply with several requirements under Washington and federal laws by failing to pay for all hours worked, failing to pay minimum wage, and failing to provide paid rest periods, for example. Sakuma Brothers' attorney Adam Belzberg, a partner at Stoel Rives LLP in Seattle, said the farm had not violated any federal or state laws but, as anyone who has been involved in a lawsuit realizes, the high cost of defense weighs against going to trial. "With that in mind, we settled the case," he told members of the Washington Farm Labor Association (WAFLA) at the annual labor conference in Wenatchee in February. Settlement Sakuma Brothers paid a settlement of $850,000, but the plaintiffs lawyers would not settle on one issue—whether, going forward, piece-rate workers must be paid separately for breaks and, if so, how payment should be calculated. TJ MULLINAX/GOOD FRUIT GROWER Pickers take a break during cherry harvest last June in Moxee, Washington. On March 17, the Washington State Supreme &RXUWZLOOKHDUDFDVHLQYROYLQJUHVWEUHDNVWKDWFRXOGVLJQL¼FDQWO\LPSDFWSLHFHUDWHFRPSHQVDWLRQDQGPD\UHVXOWLQ VXEVWDQWLDOEDFNSD\FODLPVIRUSLHFHUDWHZRUNHUV Millions of dollars at stake in piece-rate case Workers and employers can attend Washington State Supreme Court hearing in Toppenish on payment for rest breaks. by Geraldine Warner

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