A comprehensive summary of today’s judicial, legislative, and regulatory developments in agriculture and food. Email important additions to: camarigg at uark.edu
JUDICIAL: Includes crop insurance, FLSA, contract, and jurisdiction issues.
In UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ROBERT HATTAWAY, Defendant-Appellant. Case Nos. 16-5237, 2016 WL 4073304 (6th Cir., August 01, 2016), defendant was convicted of one count of bank fraud, nineteen counts of making false statements to a crop insurance company, one count of mail fraud, two counts of making false statements to the Farm Service Agency, and two counts of using false documents. Defendant appealed claiming there was insufficient evidence to support his convictions and his prison sentence was unreasonable. Court found evidence defendant submitted false documents to the National Appeals Division claiming he had farmed two pieces of land that he had not farmed and noted, “Submitting false documents to an agency for the purpose of influencing its decision is acting with the intent to defraud that agency.” Appellate court affirmed convictions and sentence.
In CECILIO GUTIERREZ-MORALES, et al., Plaintiffs, v. EARL LEE PLANCK, JR., et al., Defendants. Action No. 5:15-CV-158-JMH, 2016 WL 4068499 (E.D. Ky., July 29, 2016), migrant farm workers allege they were employed by defendants to work on defendants’ tobacco farms and claim they were paid less than the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) wage and housed in poor facilities. Defendants filed motion for leave to file a third-party complaint, contending that another party, ALS, Inc., contracted with them to act as defendants’ representative in obtaining H-2A laborers. Court reasoned that if defendants are found liable to plaintiffs, “ALS will not be derivatively liable to Defendants as ALS’s contractual responsibility to Defendants relates to DOL and USCIS form and document compliance, not to Plaintiffs’ working conditions.” Defendant’s motion denied.
In Kenneth Whitaker, Plaintiff, v. Herr Foods, Inc., Defendant. No. 16-2017, 2016 WL 4060127 (E.D. Pa., July 29, 2016), plaintiff argued defendant “misbranded” snack food products and claimed fraudulent misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and violation of the state’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (UTPCPL) statute. Regarding breach of contract claim, court noted that, “It is unclear whether a food product’s label creates a contract between the purchaser and the seller or manufacturer that would permit a breach of contract claim to proceed separate from a breach of warranty claim.” Court dismissed plaintiff’s claims, except for breach of express warranty claim.
In EMIL J. ADAMS, PLAINTIFF, v. DAN WYANT ET AL., DEFENDANTS., NO. 1:14-CV-66, 2016 WL 4054988 (W.D. Mich., July 29, 2016), plaintiff sought a federal court order demanding Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) “process and grant Plaintiff’s application for an after-the-fact permit,” years after MDEQ had brought an enforcement action against plaintiff. Defendants filed motion to dismiss on abstention grounds. Court found the Younger abstention doctrine most applicable and reasoned that a “federal plaintiff does not have to seek injunctive relief against an ongoing state proceeding for a federal court to abstain. Younger abstention also applies in federal declaratory judgment actions because they involve ‘precisely the same interference with and disruption of state proceedings’ as an injunction.” Court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment and abstained.
REGULATORY: Includes EPA and NMFS rules and notices.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY: Rule establishing tolerances for residues of cloquintocet-mexyl and its acid metabolite on commodities when cloquintocet-mexyl is used as inert ingredient in pesticide formulations containing the new active ingredient halauxifen-methyl. Details here.
NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION:
Notice the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will hold a four-day meeting to consider actions affecting the Gulf of Mexico fisheries in the exclusive economic zone. Info here.
Notice the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold a webinar-based meeting of its River Herring and Shad Committee. Info here.