In 1983, Production Farm Management, an Arizona company that grew and harvested citrus fruit in Maricopa County, Arizona, brought suit in the U.S. District Court for Arizona, challenging the Department of Labor's promulgation of its adverse effect wage rate (AEWR) for Arizona covering the minimum hourly wage payable by agricultural companies employing nonimmigrant aliens (H-2 workers) admitted to work temporarily in the United States. The AEWR was set so that the hiring of those temporary farm workers did not adversely impact the wage rates for other farm workers in the U.S. The Labor Department determined that the AEWR should be set at $ 3.67. That figure was higher than Production Farm Management was willing to pay, so it filed suit to enjoin the Labor Department from applying the $3.67 AEWR in Arizona.

The Labor Department moved for summary judgment arguing that setting the AEWR was a reasonable use of its rulemaking authority. Plaintiff filed a cross-motion for summary judgment. The District Court (Judge Muecke) initially entered judgment in favor of the government, but then set the judgment aside and ruled for plaintiff. After it obtaining additional briefing and further argument from the parties, the Court reversed itself again, and entered judgment for the government. The plaintiff appealed.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (Circuit Judge Ferguson) affirmed. Production Farm Management v. Brock, 767 F.2d 1368 (9th Cir. 1985).

Dan Dalton - 10/25/2007


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