Ray Marshall, Secretary of Labor, U. S. Department of Labor v. Silver Creek Packing Co., a Corporation

The Secretary of Labor appeals the denial of a petition for an order restraining Silver Creek Packing Co. from violating the Farm Labor Contractor Registration Act (FLORA or “the Act”), 7 U.S.C. §§ 2041 , et seq. The district court found that Silver Creek was exempt from the FLCRA’s registration and disclosure provisions and entered judgment for the company We reverse.

Silver Creek.picks and packs cantaloupes for a profit. For a “packing expense,” which reflects the company’s costs and includes a fixed profit margin, the company harvests, processes, and markets the melon crops of individual growers. Silver Creek does not directly assess farmers for the “packing expense,” but deducts its fee from the proceeds realized from marketing the produce, returning the balance to the grower. Because Silver Creek takes its fee “off the top,” the individual grower bears the loss if the market price is less than the sum of his overhead growing costs plus the corporation’s “packing expense.” The company takes a loss only if the market price does not cover its “packing expense.”

To obtain workers for its harvesting operations, Silver Creek recruits and hires migrant laborers. The Secretary…