Appellate Court Rules Exclusion from Collective Bargaining for Farm Workers Unconstitutional
May 29th, 2019
In a 4-1 ruling this week, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court ruled that theexclusion from collective bargaining for farm laborers is unconstitutional, reversing a lower court which had granted a motion to dismiss. The Court determined that farmworkers are “employees” within the plain meaning of the term and that nothing in the constitutional provision’s language or history suggests an intent to give that term a narrower meaning. Additionally, the Court held “this expressly enumerated right—adopted as a result of the Constitutional Convention of 1938 and ratification by the electorate—is enshrined in the New York Bill of Rights, providing strong evidence that the right was regarded as fundamental”. The Court in turn concluded that the exclusion of farmworkers “is unconstitutional as a matter of law.”
The dissenting opinion suggested that the Court’s conclusion is “based upon an erroneous statutory construction of the NY Constitution and is tantamount to a finding that the delegates at the Constitutional Convention of 1938 intended to impliedly or explicitly repeal the farm laborer exclusion, which was enacted only a year prior.”
While ordinarily the Appellate Court would send the case back to the Supreme Court, as the appeal was concerning a motion to dismiss which was granted, the Appellate Division ruled on the merits of the case arguing “we acknowledge the dissent’s position that, ordinarily, we would remit the matter for the Farm Bureau to answer the complaint. However, we agree with the State defendants that, under these unique circumstances, where we are presented with a purely legal constitutional question, remittal is unnecessary. There is no reason to remit the matter for Supreme Court to determine whether Labor Law § 701 (3) (a) meets strict scrutiny review when it is clear, from its face, that it would fail.”
The Attorney General’s office refused to defend the statute in court, opting to join the petitioner. The New York Farm Bureau intervened to defend the constitutionality of the statute.
The Governor said:
“This is a victory for some of the most vulnerable members of New York’s workforce. From the beginning, we chose not to defend against this lawsuit because farmworkers never should have been denied the same basic rights as other workers and we believed this to not only be morally wrong, but also unconstitutional. My administration has proudly fought for working men and women across the board, from raising the minimum wage to strengthening worker protections in nail salons and the home health care industry – and we will never tolerate the abuse or exploitation of workers anywhere, period. I commend the court’s decision to correct this undeniable injustice and reaffirm New York’s principles of fairness and equality for all.”
“I applaud the court’s decision affirming the right for farmworkers to organize in the State of New York. This ruling asserts that farmworkers are no longer considered second-class workers in the eyes of the law. My office will always fight for the hardworking people in this state, and their fundamental rights to organize, access workplace protections, and receive fair wages for a fair day’s work.”
David Fisher, President of the New York Farm Bureau said:
“We are extremely disappointed in the majority’s decision and the breadth of its ruling. The Appellate Court was considering the trial court’s decision on a motion to dismiss, which, if denied would have permitted Farm Bureau to fully litigate this case in the trial court. Instead, the majority of the court decided to make a far-reaching determination by declaring the right to collectively bargain as a “fundamental right,” on par with the freedoms of speech and religion. We believe that the majority’s conclusion is unsupportable and disregards decades of precedent. The court’s dissenting opinion exposed the flaws in the majority’s ruling and identified that the decision eliminates Farm Bureau’s right to defend the constitutionality of the statute in trial court. Speaking more broadly, if the legislature, and now the courts do not recognize the value of preserving a viable and economically sustainable food production system in the state, New York agriculture will continue to shrink under a mountain of mandates. Our rural economy and local job opportunities will suffer. And New Yorkers will find it harder to access New York grown food, instead relying on food brought in from out of state, or worse yet, out of the country to feed their families. New York Farm Bureau fully intends to appeal the court’s ill-conceived ruling.”