Silva-Arriaga v. Texas Express, Inc.

222 F.R.D. 684, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16325, 2004 WL 1824397
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedAugust 9, 2004
DocketNo. 2:03-CV-690-FtM-29SPC
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 222 F.R.D. 684 (Silva-Arriaga v. Texas Express, Inc.) 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
Silva-Arriaga v. Texas Express, Inc., 222 F.R.D. 684, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16325, 2004 WL 1824397 (M.D. Fla. 2004).

Opinion

ORDER

STEELE, District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiffs’ Motion For Declaration of a Class Action (Doc. # 14) and Memorandum of Law in Support (Doe. # 15) filed on March 30, 2004. Defendants filed a Response (Doc. # 25) on May 24, 2004.

I.

The facts, as set forth in the Complaint (Doc. # 1), are as follows. Plaintiffs are four migrant agricultural workers. During the summer of 2003, defendants hired plaintiffs and over 200 other individuals to harvest defendants’ lemon crop in and near Hendry County, Florida. Plaintiffs worked for defendants from approximately July 2003 through September 2003. Plaintiffs two-count Complaint (Doe. # 1) alleges violations of (1) the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (commonly referred to as the AWPA), 29 U.S.C. § 1801, et seq., and (2) the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. § 201, et seq.

Plaintiffs move to certify a class of persons who allegedly were injured by defendants’ violations of the AWPA.1 Specifically, plaintiffs contend that defendants violated the AWPA during the 2003 Florida lemon harvest by: (1) failing to make, keep and preserve certain records regarding plaintiffs’ work, including the number of compensable hours worked by plaintiffs; (2) failing to provide plaintiffs on each pay day with written statements containing certain data required to be disclosed, including the number of compensable hours plaintiffs were employed during the workweek; and (3) failing to pay plaintiffs their wages when due for work performed, including sums due under the minimum wage provisions of the FLSA.

II.

Whether to certify a class is a matter within the discretion of the Court. Moore v. American Fed’n of Television & Radio Artists, 216 F.3d 1236, 1241 (11th Cir.2000), cert, denied, 533 U.S. 950, 121 S.Ct. 2592, 150 L.Ed.2d 751 (2001). “The initial burden of proof to establish the propriety of class certification rests with the advocate of the class.” Rutstein v. Avis Rent-A-Car Sys., Inc., 211 F.3d 1228, 1233 (11th Cir.2000), cert, denied, 532 U.S. 919, 121 S.Ct. 1354, 149 L.Ed.2d 285 (2001). As an initial matter, a prerequisite to class certification is that “it must be established that the proposed class representatives have standing to pursue the claims as to which classwide relief is sought.” Wooden v. Board of Regents of Univ. Sys. of Ga., 247 F.3d 1262, 1287 (11th Cir.2001). Neither party has addressed the standing of the proposed class representatives. After reviewing the allegations in the Complaint, the Court concludes that the proposed class representatives have standing to pursue the claims in Count I of the Complaint.

[688]*688To obtain class certification, plaintiffs must satisfy all four of the threshold requirements set forth in Rule 23(a), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and then show that the action is maintainable under at least one of the three provisions of Rule 23(b). Amchem Prods., Inc. v. Windsor, 521 U.S. 591, 613-14, 117 S.Ct. 2231, 138 L.Ed.2d 689 (1997); Turner v. Beneficial Corp., 242 F.3d 1023,1025 (11th Cir.2001) (en banc), cert, denied, 534 U.S. 820, 122 S.Ct. 51, 151 L.Ed.2d 21. The four threshold requirements are (1) numerosity: the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impractical; (2) commonality: questions of law or fact are common to the class; (3) typicality: the representatives of the class present claims or defenses that are typical of the class; (4) adequacy: the representatives of the class will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class. Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a); Turner, 242 F.3d at 1025 n. 3; Pickett v. Iowa Beef Processors, 209 F.3d 1276, 1279 (11th Cir.2000). Rule 23(b) requires plaintiffs to show that either (1) prosecution by separate actions would create a risk of inconsistent results; or (2) defendants have acted in ways generally applicable to the class, making declaratory or injunctive relief appropriate; or (3) common questions of law or fact predominate over individual issues. Moore, 216 F.3d at 1241.

Plaintiffs seek certification of a class defined as:

All migrant or seasonal agricultural workers, as defined by the AWPA, 29 U.S.C. §§ 1802(8) and 1802(10), who were employed harvesting lemons for the Defendants during the 2003 Florida lemon harvest, extending from approximately July through September.

(Doc. # 14, p. 2). Plaintiffs contend that the requirements of Rule 23(a), and that the predominance and superiority requirements of Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(3) are satisfied. Defendants challenge only the predominance requirement of Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(3).2

A. Rule 23(a) Requirements

(1) Numerosity:

Rule 23(a)(1) requires that the class be so numerous that joinder of all members is impractical. Practicability of joinder depends on many factors, including the size of the class, ease of identifying its numbers and determining their addresses, the facility of making service on them if joined, and their geographic dispersion. Kilgo v. Bowman Transp., Inc., 789 F.2d 859, 878 (11th Cir. 1986). There is no specific number of class members necessary to show the impracticability of joinder, and it is not necessary that the precise number of class members be known; plaintiffs, however, must show some evidence or reasonable estimate of the number of class members. Id.

Plaintiffs contend that the numerosity requirement is met for three reasons. First, the size of the class is over 200 individuals who are believed to have picked lemons for defendants during the 2003 harvest. Second, the class is geographically diverse as many of these individuals maintain their permanent homes throughout the United States, Mexico and Central America. Third, most of the class members are monolingual Spanish speakers who lack proficiency in English and who are relatively unfamiliar with the American legal system. (Doc. # 15, pp. 4-6). Defendants do not dispute that the numerosity requirement is satisfied.

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222 F.R.D. 684, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16325, 2004 WL 1824397, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/silva-arriaga-v-texas-express-inc-flmd-2004.