Michael Hat Farming Co. v. Agricultural Labor Relations Board

1. Introduction

Michael Hat petitions this court to set aside a February 1991 decision by California’s Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) determining petitioner to be an agricultural, joint successor employer obliged to bargain in good faith with the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO (UFW), real party in interest. The ALRB decision affirmed a decision by an administrative law judge. It orders petitioner to bargain collectively in good faith with the UFW; to honor the terms and conditions of a collective bargaining agreement between the UFW and a predecessor employer; to make whole agricultural employees for lost pay and other economic losses from January 1, 1989; to publicize the decision; and to prove compliance to the ALRB. (17 A.L.R.B. No. 2, pp. 7-9.)

Petitioner contends the ALRB decision is not supported by substantial evidence. The central issue is when a land manager becomes an agricultural employer. We uphold those factual findings by the ALRB that are “supported by substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole.” (Lab. Code, § 1160.8 ; Martori Brothers Distributors v. Agricultural Labor Relations Bd. (1981) 29 Cal.3d 721, 727 [ 175…