Berrocal v. Fernandez

85 P.3d 969 (Wa. Ct. App. 2004) ; Clearinghouse Number: 55585

Description

Employees Required to Live at Ranch Where They Worked Were Not Categorically Excluded from Washington’s Minimum Wage Law

Abstract

Reversing the trial court’s summary judgment for employers, Washington Court of Appeals ruled that plaintiff employees were not exempt from the state’s minimum wage law because they lived at the ranch where they worked. Plaintiffs—two men who worked at a sheep ranch under the H-2A guest worker program—sued their joint employers (the ranch operators and the California company that brought plaintiffs into the country). Plaintiffs charged that defendants failed to pay state-mandated minimum wage. Defendants cross-complained for breach of contract because plaintiffs quit their jobs. Plaintiffs earned $650 per month (and room and board) and performed a variety of agricultural duties on the sheep ranch. They were required to live at the ranch and be available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Plaintiffs alleged that they worked more than twelve hours per day, or an hourly wage of less than $1.80. The trial court granted summary judgment for defendants on the wage claim. On appeal plaintiffs argued that employees (including those who resided at the workplace) who spent substantial time on call were excluded only when they were not performing their duties. Applying the “last antecedent” rule of construction to interpret the significance of a qualifying phrase in the wage statute, the appellate court ruled that plaintiffs were not categorically excluded, as defendants argued and the trial court held, but excluded only when not actively working. The appellate court remanded and directed the trial court to determine which hours were compensable by using a four-factor test.

Additional Information

Attorney Information
Plaintiffs/appellants represented by Kevin Díaz, Daniel G. Ford, Columbia Legal Servs., Six S. Second St., Ste 510, Yakima, WA 98901 (509.575.5593); Victor H. Lara, Hurley, Lara & Hehir, 411 N. Second St., Yakima, WA 98901 (509.248.4282)
Docket Date
2004-03-11 00:00:00+00:00