Cascade Floral Prod., Inc. v. Dep. of Labor & Industries

177 P.3d 124
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJanuary 15, 2008
Docket35461-6-II
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 177 P.3d 124 (Cascade Floral Prod., Inc. v. Dep. of Labor & Industries) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cascade Floral Prod., Inc. v. Dep. of Labor & Industries, 177 P.3d 124 (Wash. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

177 P.3d 124 (2006)

CASCADE FLORAL PRODUCTS, INC.; Continental Wholesale Florists, Inc., d/b/a Continental Floral Greens; Hiawatha, Inc.; Hood Canal Evergreens; Pacific Coast Evergreens, Inc.; Puget Sound Evergreens Co., Inc.; Mt. St.. Helens Evergreen, Inc.; Olympic Evergreen, Inc., Respondent,
v.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR & INDUSTRIES, an agency of the State of Washington, Appellant.

No. 35461-6-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

January 15, 2008.
September 11, 2006.

*125 Diana Sheythe Cartwright, Attorney Generals Office, Seattle, WA, for Appellant.

Philip Albert Talmadge, Talmadge Law Group PLLC, Tukwila, WA, for Respondent.

HUNT, J.

¶ 1 The Department of Labor and Industries (L & I) appeals the trial court's summary judgment order declaring that Washington's farm labor contractor act[1] (Act) does not apply to the brush picking industry, including Cascade Floral Products and other forest greenery packinghouses. L & I argues that the trial court erred in its ruling because brush picking workers are engaged in "forestation or reforestation" within the meaning of the Act. Holding that the packing-house owners are not "agricultural employers" under the Act and that brush picking is not a "forestation or reforestation" or related activity, we affirm.

FACTS

I. Background

¶ 2 The specialized forest products industry engages in the gathering and picking of naturally occurring products in forests, such as evergreen foliage, salal, moss, and cascara *126 bark, which the industry uses for floral displays and other decorative purposes. RCW 76.48.020(18). Owners of packinghouses, called "sheds," lease land from property owners such as the United States Forest Service or large timber companies. The packinghouses then (1) sell permits[2] to individual brush pickers to gather the greenery from the leased tract of land, (2) buy these greens from the brush pickers, and (3) act as vendors to greenery wholesalers and distributors.

¶ 3 In 2003, the Department of Labor and Industries (L & I) sent several packinghouses (Companies)[3] information about the Act, RCW 19.30, including checklists to ensure compliance with the Act.

II. Declaratory Judgment

¶ 4 The Companies filed an action for declaratory judgment. They asked the Mason County Superior Court to declare that they were not "agricultural employers" within the meaning of the Act and, thus, it did not apply to them. Moving for summary judgment, the Companies argued that brush picking is not an "agricultural activity," nor does it qualify as "forestation or reforestation" under the Act. L & I responded that the Act broadly defines "agricultural employer" and that including the brush picking industry would best effectuate the Act's purpose.

¶ 5 The trial court ruled that the statute was unambiguous and that the phrase "and other related activities" referred back to the Act's specific terms "forestation or reforestation." Ruling that the statute did not include "other related forestry practices," the trial court concluded that brush picking was simply too different from forestation and reforestation for inclusion in the Act. The trial court granted the Companies' motion for summary judgment.

¶ 6 L & I appeals.

ANALYSIS

¶ 7 L & I argues that the trial court erred in ruling that the Act does not apply to the forest-greenery packing industry and Companies. L & I asserts that the statutory language is intentionally broad and that including brush pickers would conform to the Act's purpose.[4] The Companies respond that the trial court properly found that the brush pickers and packinghouses are not engaged in "forestation or reforestation" within the meaning of the Act and consequently, the Act does not apply to them. We agree with the Companies and with the trial court.

I. Standard of Review

¶ 8 We review a summary judgment de novo. CR 56(c). We perform the same inquiry as the trial court. Hisle v. Todd Pac. Shipyards Corp., 151 Wash.2d 853, 860, 93 P.3d 108 (2004) (citing Kruse v. Hemp, 121 Wash.2d 715, 722, 853 P.2d 1373 (1993)). Summary judgment is appropriate only where there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. CR 56(c). When reviewing a summary judgment, we view all facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Vallandigham v. Clover Park Sch. Dist. No. 400, 154 Wash.2d 16, 26, 109 P.3d 805 (2005) (citing Atherton Condo. Apartment-Owners Assn Bd. of Dirs. v. Blume Dev. Co., 115 Wash.2d 506, 516, 799 P.2d 250 (1990)).

*127 II. Plain Meaning of the Act

¶ 9 The Act requires "agricultural employers" to provide certain protections for contract agricultural workers, such as obtaining insurance for the workers' transportation. The Act defines an "agricultural employer" as:

any person engaged in agricultural activity, including the growing, producing, or harvesting of farm or nursery products, or engaged in the forestation or reforestation of lands, which includes but is not limited to the planting, transplanting, tubing, precommercial thinning, and thinning of trees and seedlings, the clearing, piling, and disposal of brush and slash, the harvest of Christmas trees, and other related activities.

RCW 19.30.010(4).

¶ 10 L & I concedes that brush picking is not an "agricultural activity." Nonetheless, it argues that we should read the "forestation" language of the Act broadly and inclusively to effectuate the Act's purpose, namely, the protection of vulnerable workers. The Companies counter that the plain meaning of the Act's statutory language evinces the Legislature's intent that the Act apply only to actions involving cultivation, not to the gathering of naturally occurring greens for the brush picking industry. We agree with the Companies that the plain language of the Act controls and, therefore, statutory interpretation, as L & I requested is unnecessary.

A. Standard of Review

¶ 11 Because interpretation of statutes and court rules are questions of law, our review is de novo. Nevers v. Fireside, Inc., 133 Wash.2d 804, 809, 947 P.2d 721 (1997) (citing Westberg v. All-Purpose Structures, Inc., 86 Wash.App. 405, 409, 936 P.2d 1175 (1997)). Where statutory language is plain and unambiguous, we derive meaning from the wording of the statute itself. Rozner v. City of Bellevue, 116 Wash.2d 342, 347, 804 P.2d 24 (1991). A statute that is clear on its face is not subject to judicial interpretation. In re Marriage of Kovacs,

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Bluebook (online)
177 P.3d 124, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cascade-floral-prod-inc-v-dep-of-labor-industries-washctapp-2008.