Diaz

I. BACKGROUND

Defendants-Appellees Phoenix Agro Invest, Inc., and SAM Management, Inc., are general partners in Defendant- 3524 DIAZ v. EAGLE PRODUCE Appellee Eagle Produce Limited Partnership (Eagle Produce), which operates a commercial broccoli and melon farm in Aguila, Arizona. The seasonal nature of farming these crops creates a fluctuating need for laborers that corresponds with periods of soil preparation, crop planting, and harvest. Eagle Produce hires new workers or transfers existing employees to satisfy its labor needs during periods of increased activity. Conversely, it lays off workers or transfers them to other operations when its need for labor decreases. Because work on the farm generally slows down each year between the melon harvest in the fall and planting in the spring, layoffs and transfers tend to occur in the winter. Reflecting this trend, the number of workers employed by Eagle Produce was 770 in July 2002, but only 332 in February of the same year.

Plaintiffs-Appellants Abel Ruiz Diaz, Ubaldo Moreno, Pie- dad H. Renteria, and Alejandro D. Mancilla (collectively, Plaintiffs) were laborers at Eagle Produce’s Aguila farm. With the exception…