Ruiz Torres v. Mercer Canyons, No. 15-35615 (9th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed a putative class action against Mercer, alleging that Mercer had a common policy or practice of failing to inform domestic farm workers of the availability of H-2A work that paid $12 per hour, in violation of the Agricultural Workers’ Protection Act (AWPA), 29 U.S.C. 1831(e) and 1821(f), and the Washington Consumer Protection Act (CPA), Wash. Rev. Code 19.86.020. Plaintiffs also alleged that Mercer failed to pay its own domestic workers $12 per hour when they carried out the same tasks as foreign H-2A workers, in violation of AWPA and state wage laws.The district court certified an Inaccurate Information class and an Equal Pay subclass, corresponding to plaintiffs’ claims. In regard to the Inaccurate Information class, the court concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion by finding common questions and in finding that common issues predominated under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3). In regard to the Equal Pay subclass, the court concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion by identifying a common question of fact concerning whether Mercer’s domestic workers were consistently paid $12 per hour for H-2A work. Finally, the court concluded that the district court did not err in finding that the typicality requirement was met in this case. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Labor Law / Class Certification. The panel affirmed the district court’s order certifying a plaintiff class of domestic farm workers who alleged violations of the Agricultural Workers’ Protection Act and Washington law. The plaintiffs alleged that the defendant farm employer failed to inform them of the availability of agricultural work that was performed by temporary foreign workers under the federal H-2A visa program, and failed to pay domestic workers the same wage as the foreign workers. The panel affirmed the district court’s certification of an Inaccurate Information class and an Equal Pay subclass. The panel held that as to the Inaccurate Information class, the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding common questions under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(2) regarding a duty to disclose information pertaining to H-2A jobs, nor in finding that common issues predominated under Rule 23(b)(3). The panel also affirmed the district court’s findings of commonality and typicality with regard to the Equal Pay subclass, as well as the district court’s finding of typicality under Rule 23(a)(4). RUIZ TORRES V. MERCER CANYONS 3
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