Bertrand v. Jorden

672 F. Supp. 1417, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14214
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedOctober 16, 1987
Docket85-918-Civ-T-15
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 672 F. Supp. 1417 (Bertrand v. Jorden) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bertrand v. Jorden, 672 F. Supp. 1417, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14214 (M.D. Fla. 1987).

Opinion

OPINION

CASTAGNA, District Judge.

This matter was tried before the Court on April 21, 1987. Testimony was received from Plaintiffs Lucien Bertrand and Jean Baptiste Belise and from Defendant Jimmie Lee Jorden, Sr. Plaintiffs introduced 30 exhibits into evidence. Based on the evidence received at trial, the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law:

I. FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Plaintiff Lucien Bertrand is a resident of Fort Pierce, Florida. He is a Haitian national who came to the United States in 1980. Since his arrival in the United States, Bertrand has been authorized by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to seek gainful employment in this country. His principal employment in the United States has been in the harvesting of fruits and vegetables. Bertrand understands some English, but is fluent only in the Haitian Creole language. He is able to read somewhat in Haitian Creole.

2. Plaintiff Jean Baptiste Belise is a resident of Accomac, Virginia. He is a Haitian national who came to the United States in 1980. Since his arrival in the United States, Belise has been authorized by the Immigration and Naturalization Service .to seek gainful employment in this country. His principal employment in the United States has been in the harvesting of fruits and vegetables. Belise understands some English, but is fluent only in the Haitian Creole language. Belise attended seven years of school in Haiti and is able to read in Haitian Creole.

3. Plaintiffs Juliora Augustin and Charles Sejour are migrant farmworkers.

4. Defendant Jimmie Lee Jorden, Sr., is a resident of Gibsonton, Florida. For the past twenty years, Jorden has worked as a farm labor contractor, or “crewleader.” In *1420 his job as a farm labor contractor, Jorden recruits, hires, furnishes and transports workers for agricultural employment in states along the east coast of the United States, including Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina.

5. In 1981, Jimmie Lee Jorden, Sr., served as a farm labor contractor for J.W. Yonce & Sons of Johnston, South Carolina. Jorden furnished approximately 70 workers to J.W. Yonce and Sons during June, July, and early August, 1981, to harvest Yonce’s peach crop. Approximately one half of this group was comprised of Haitian nationals. Few of these Haitian nationals spoke English. Yonce paid Jorden a fee of approximately 70 cents for every % bushel of peaches harvested by Jorden’s crew for his services as a farm labor contractor. From this sum, Jorden paid the pickers their wages, as well as the employer's share of Social Security (FICA) contributions.

6. In 1981, Jimmie Lee Jorden, Sr., served as a farm labor contractor for Bar-din Brothers of Wilson, North Carolina. Jorden furnished approximately 70 workers to Bardin Brothers August through approximately October, 1981, to harvest Bar-din Brothers' sweet potato and squash crops. Approximately one half of this group was comprised of Haitian nationals. Few of these Haitian nationals spoke English. Bardin Brothers paid Jorden a fee of approximately 75 cents for every bushel of sweet potatoes harvested by his crew for his services as a farm labor contractor. From this sum, Jorden paid the pickers their wages, as well as the employer’s share of Social Security (FICA) contributions.

7. Defendant Roy Lee Jorden, is the son of Jimmie Lee Jorden, Sr. During 1981, Roy Lee Jorden assisted Jimmie Lee Jorden, Sr., in his farm labor contracting business. During the 1981 South Carolina peach harvest, Roy Lee Jorden drove a truck and transported the harvested fruit from the orchard to the packinghouse. During the 1981 North Carolina vegetable harvest, Roy Lee Jorden worked as a field supervisor, or “fieldworker,” and oversaw the work of the members of Jimmie Lee Jorden, Sr.’s harvesting crew.

8. In the late spring of 1981, plaintiffs Bertrand and Belise were working with Jimmie Lee Jorden, Sr.’s harvest crew in the Ruskin, Florida, tomato harvest. At the time, Bertrand and Belise were residing in a labor camp with other members of Jorden’s crew. When the tomato harvest ended, Jimmie Lee Jorden, Sr., recruited plaintiffs Bertrand and Belise, along with other workers to harvest peaches with the crew on the Yonce farm near Johnston, South Carolina.

9. At the time he recruited plaintiffs Bertrand and Belise in Florida to perform work in the 1981 South Carolina peach harvest, Jimmie Lee Jorden, Sr., failed to disclose to Bertrand and Belise in writing in a language in which they were fluent the terms and conditions of the proffered employment, including the place of employment, the crops on which they would be employed and the wage rates to be paid.

10. Jimmie Lee Jorden, Sr., transported plaintiffs Bertrand and Belise from Ruskin, Florida to South Carolina in his labor bus. Upon their arrival in South Carolina, Bertrand and Belise were housed in a labor camp, along with other members of Jorden’s crew.

11. Plaintiffs Lucien Bertrand, Jean Baptiste Belise and Juliora Augustin were employed as members of Jimmie Lee Jorden, Sr.’s agricultural labor crew harvesting peaches on the operations of J.W. Yonce & Sons near Johnston, South Carolina during the summer of 1981.

12. During the 1981 South Carolina peach harvest, Jimmie Lee Jorden, Sr., was responsible for paying the members of his crew their wages.

13. During the 1981 South Carolina peach harvest, Jimmie Lee Jorden, Sr., paid the members of his crew once a week. The payment was in cash, with the wages enclosed in a small envelope. Two of these envelopes were received into evidence. Notations were made on these envelopes as to the gross wages, withholdings from wages and net wages of the harvester. Although Jorden received approximately 70 cents *1421 per % bushel on behalf of each worker, this sum was not shown on the pay envelopes. Instead the pay envelopes included only that portion of Jorden’s fee which was actually paid to the harvester. The notations on these envelopes were the only written statement Jorden gave to his crewmembers with their wages.

14. During the 1981 South Carolina peach harvest, Jimmie Lee Jorden, Sr., was responsible for maintaining payroll records with respect to the members of his crew. Copies, of these records were entered into evidence. At the conclusion of each pay period, Jorden would provide a copy of these same records to J.W. Yonce & Sons.

15. The payroll records kept and maintained by Jimmie Lee Jorden, Sr., with respect to the 1981 South Carolina peach harvest did not include the number of hours worked by the individual pickers, the piece-rate paid or the worker’s permanent addresses. Defendant Jimmy Lee Jorden, Sr., did not ask the plaintiffs for their permanent addresses. In addition, the payroll records did not list withholdings from wages for food purchased by workers from Jorden. For example, during the pay period of July 4, 1981, Jorden withheld $5.00 from the wages of Plaintiff Belise for “food,” but this sum was not shown on the payroll records for that week. The records Jorden provided to J.W. Yonce & Sons were similarly deficient.

16.

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Bluebook (online)
672 F. Supp. 1417, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14214, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bertrand-v-jorden-flmd-1987.