Ray Marshall, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor, Plaintiff v. Green Goddess Avocado Corporation, a Corporation

The Secretary of Labor appeals the denial of a petition for an order restraining Green Goddess Avocado Corp. from continuing alleged violations of the Farm Labor Contractor Registration Act (FLCRA or “the. Act”), 7 U.S.C. §§ 2041 , et seq. The district court found that Green Goddess was exempt from the FLCRA’s registration and disclosure provisions and entered judgment for the company. We affirm.

Green Goddess processes and sells avocados and limes for a profit. To obtain fruit for its operations, it buys both harvested fruit and fruit which is still on the tree, paying farmers an agreed price per pound. If Green Goddess purchases unpicked fruit, it hires migrant workers to harvest the fruit and deducts the costs of this labor from the previously negotiated price per pound that the farmer receives. In these circumstances, Green Goddess assumes the risk of loss before harvest and completely supervises the migrant workers and the harvesting process. When the fruit is. marketed, after packing, Green Goddess retains all of the proceeds.

Under the Farm Labor Contractor Registration Act, “farm labor contractors” must comply with certain registration and disclosure requirements which,…