Fulford v. Alligator River Farms, LLC

858 F. Supp. 2d 550, 2012 WL 871077, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35381
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. North Carolina
DecidedMarch 14, 2012
DocketNo. 4:11-CV-103-FL
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 858 F. Supp. 2d 550 (Fulford v. Alligator River Farms, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fulford v. Alligator River Farms, LLC, 858 F. Supp. 2d 550, 2012 WL 871077, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35381 (E.D.N.C. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER

LOUISE W. FLANAGAN, District Judge.

This matter is before the court on defendant’s motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), filed August 19, 2011, Plaintiffs responded on September 23, 2011, and defendant replied October 6, 2011.

On November 15, 2011, plaintiffs filed amended complaint. By order entered January 10, 2012, the court notified the parties that it deemed defendant’s motion to dismiss to adhere to plaintiffs’ amended complaint. Plaintiffs were allowed additional time to respond to defendant’s motion to dismiss as now directed against the amended complaint, and defendant was allowed time to reply. In compliance with the court’s order, plaintiffs filed response on January 31, 2012. Defendant replied on February 13, 2012, and the issues raised are now ripe for adjudication.

For the following reasons, defendant’s motion to dismiss is denied.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Plaintiffs filed complaint on June 20, 2011, alleging therein claims against Alligator River Farms, LLC (“defendant”), arising under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (“AWPA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1801 et seq., and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as [553]*553amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq. (“Title VII”). Plaintiffs are eleven individuals who allegedly worked for defendant in March, 2010.1

On August 19, 2011, defendant filed motion to dismiss complaint for failure to state a claim, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Plaintiffs responded September 23, 2011 and also moved that day to amend the complaint. The court granted the motion for leave to amend, and plaintiffs filed amended complaint on November 15, 2011. Thereafter, the court entered order indicating that defendant’s motion to dismiss now attached to the amended complaint. Plaintiffs were allowed to respond to the motion to dismiss as it now attached to the amended complaint, and defendant was allowed an additional reply. Plaintiffs filed their response on January 31, 2012, and defendant replied February 13, 2012.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The facts, alleged by plaintiffs in the amended complaint and accepted as true for purposes of this order, are as follows.

Plaintiffs are African-American citizens of the United States and residents of Hyde County, North Carolina. Defendant is a North Carolina limited liability company with its principal place of business in Hyde County, North Carolina. Defendant grows various crops and, plaintiffs assert, is an “agricultural employer” as defined by 29 U.S.C. § 1802(2).

On or about February 1, 2010, defendant applied to the United States Department of Labor (“USDOL”) for permission to hire fifty-eight H-2A workers to do field work cultivating and harvesting defendant’s crops.2 Employment was to begin March 25, 2010 and conclude December 15, 2010. In 2009, defendant had followed the same process to hire fifty-six H-2A workers from Mexico to do similar work on its farm.

Defendant, as part of its application with the USDOL, submitted a clearance order in which it detailed the nature of the work offered. The clearance order stated, inter alia, that workers would be paid by the hour for planting broccoli. It did not disclose a production standard for broccoli planting, aside from requiring that workers “keep up with their fellow workers.”

Plaintiffs learned of the jobs available on defendant’s farm in early spring, 2010. Some were alerted by an advertisement in a local newspaper, others by word of mouth. Each plaintiff applied for a job with defendant and was hired. Some plaintiffs went to defendant’s office and were interviewed and told to report to work on March 25, 2010. Others called and were similarly instructed to report.

Plaintiffs reported for work on March 25 and were assigned to plant broccoli. No information regarding the job or plaintiffs’ rights as seasonal agricultural workers was posted at the worksite, nor did plaintiffs see a poster detailing their rights [554]*554while they were employed by defendant. Further, plaintiffs did not receive a copy of the clearance order, and the order was not posted at the worksite.

Plaintiffs were not given any hand tools. Rather, defendant instructed plaintiffs to create with their hands the hole in which to plant each broccoli plant. The H-2A workers from Mexico, in contrast, were given hand tools. Further, while these H-2A workers were allowed to work in teams and to speak with each other, plaintiffs were not. Defendant also required plaintiffs to re-do their work, while the Mexican H-2A workers were not required to re-do work of similar quality. In addition, the Mexican crew started the work day several hours later than plaintiffs.

Defendant made it clear that plaintiffs needed to work more and more quickly and gave them the impression that they would be paid on a piece rate, by the broccoli flat, rather than by the hour as stated in the clearance order. Defendant imposed a shifting production standard that plaintiffs were unable to meet, and defendant’s president, Wilson Daughtry, berated plaintiffs and told them that they would not “make it.”

On Sunday, March 28, plaintiff Tylajuwon Shelton went to church in the morning and did not report to work until the afternoon. Defendant discharged Shelton for reporting late. Defendant discharged plaintiff Lacy Whitaker on or about March 27, 2010, and Larvetra Fulford on or about March 31, 2010, for allegedly failing to meet defendant’s production standard. Plaintiffs Fabian Spencer, Norwood Spencer, Michael Weston, Carter Midgette, and Jarrett Spencer quit on or about March 27 because defendant made the work intolerable, and because they feared they would be discharged.3 Finally, plaintiffs Justin McCoy, Mack Mann, and Nicholas Spencer quit on or about March 31, 2010, due to continued humiliation and threats of termination.

DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

A motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) determines only whether a claim is stated; “it does not resolve contests surrounding the facts, the merits of a claim, or the applicability of defenses.” Republican Party v. Martin, 980 F.2d 943, 952 (4th Cir.1992). A claim is stated if the complaint contains “sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1940, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)).

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Bluebook (online)
858 F. Supp. 2d 550, 2012 WL 871077, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35381, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fulford-v-alligator-river-farms-llc-nced-2012.