[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 159 (Friday, October 13, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1943-E1944]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E 1943]]


              H.R. 1715--LEGISLATIVE INTENT ON SUBSTITUTE

                                 ______


                        HON. WILLIAM F. GOODLING

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 13, 1995

  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, next week the House is scheduled to 
consider H.R. 1715. At that time I plan to offer a substitute to the 
version of H.R. 1715 that passed the Economic and Educational 
Opportunities Committee. I am pleased to be joined in offering the 
substitute by the ranking member, Mr. Clay and the chairman and ranking 
member of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, Mr. Ballenger and 
Mr. Owens. Following is the substitute to H.R. 1715 which will be 
offered to the House and a statement of legislative intent which I 
offer on behalf of myself, and Representatives Clay, Ballenger, and 
Owens.

    Joint Statement of Legislative Intent on Substitute to H.R. 1715

       Section 1 reverses the effect of the decision of the United 
     States Supreme Court in Adams Fruit Company, Inc. v. Barrett 
     494 U.S. 638(1990). The Supreme Court held that an action for 
     damages under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker 
     Protection Act (MSPA) was preserved and could be maintained 
     by injured farm workers, even though the farm workers were 
     covered under State workers' compensation for the same 
     injuries suffered in the course of employment for the Adams 
     Fruit Company.
       Section 1 amends MSPA to provide that where workers' 
     compensation coverage is secured under a State worker's 
     compensation law for a migrant or seasonal agricultural 
     worker, workers' compensation shall be the farm worker's 
     exclusive remedy, and the employer's sole liability under 
     MSPA for bodily injury or death. Section 1 reinstates and 
     makes permanent a change in law that was temporarily in 
     effect from October 6, 1992 to July 6, 1993, pursuant to 
     Section 325(c) of Public Law 102-392.
       Section 1 bars actions under MSPA for actual damages for 
     injuries suffered by a farm worker where State workers' 
     compensation is applicable and coverage is provided. It does 
     not bar actions under MSPA for statutory damages or for 
     equitable relief so long as such equitable relief does not 
     include back or front pay, or expand, alter or affect rights 
     or recoveries under State workers' compensation laws. Nothing 
     in the bill is intended to limit the inherent authority of a 
     court to impose sanctions where the court finds a defendant 
     in contempt of court for refusing to comply with a court 
     order. Further, nothing in the bill is intended to bar a 
     party from maintaining an action under State law which is not 
     precluded by the State's workers' compensation law. These 
     amendments are intended to incorporate into MSPA the full 
     preclusive effect of the State's workers' compensation 
     law, but not to create a broader preclusive effect in MSPA 
     than is provided by the States' workers' compensation law.
       Section 1 is applicable to all cases and claims under MSPA 
     in which a final judgment has not yet been entered.
       Section 2 provides for increased statutory damages under 
     MSPA in certain cases where (1) actual damages are precluded 
     because of the plaintiff's coverage under State workers' 
     compensation law provided in section 1 of the bill, and (2) 
     the circumstances and the defendant's actions meet any one of 
     four sets of criteria described in the bill. In those cases, 
     the maximum award of statutory damages is increased from up 
     to $500 to up to $10,000 per plaintiff per violation.
       The bill provides that multiple infractions of a single 
     provision of MSPA shall constitute only one violation per 
     plaintiff for purposes of the statutory damages provided in 
     section 2. This language is identical to and should be 
     construed the same as present language in section 504(c)(1) 
     of MSPA.
       Section 2 is applicable to claims for statutory damages 
     under MSPA on which a final judgment has not been entered, as 
     well as to future claims for such damages.
       Section 3 provides for tolling of the statute of 
     limitations on actions brought under MSPA during the time 
     period in which a claim under a State workers' compensation 
     law is pending. Specifically, the purpose of this provision 
     is two-fold: first, it tolls the applicable statute of 
     limitations governing a suit for actual damages for bodily 
     injury or death under MSPA while a determination is being 
     made whether the State workers' compensation law was 
     applicable to the injury or death. Second, it tolls the 
     statute of limitations governing claims which arise out of 
     the same transaction or occurrence but which do not implicate 
     workers' compensation. It intends to avoid forcing parties to 
     split their claims into two suits, litigating their non-
     bodily injury claims in one lawsuit in order to preserve 
     these claims under the applicable statute of limitations and 
     then later litigating the injury claims in another lawsuit, 
     if it were subsequently determined under State workers' 
     compensation law that the injury was not covered.
       Section 4 requires disclosure of information regarding 
     workers' compensation coverage to migrant agricultural 
     workers and, upon request, to seasonal agricultural workers. 
     The purpose of this amendment is to help ensure that farm 
     workers have sufficient information to know whether workers' 
     compensation insurance is provided, who is providing it and 
     how to file timely workers' compensation claims where 
     workers' compensation is provided. Compliance with this 
     disclosure requirement may be met by giving the migrant or 
     seasonal agricultural workers a photocopy of any notice 
     regarding workers' compensation which state law requires that 
     the workers receive. The amendment is not intended to modify 
     the joint employment doctrine which determines employment 
     relationships under MSPA.
       Section 5 pertains to the level of liability insurance 
     required by the Department of Labor by employers engaged in 
     transportation of migrant and/or seasonal agricultural 
     workers. Current DOL regulations (29 CFR 500.121.(b)) 
     require that the vehicle liability insurance carried by 
     covered employers engaged in transporting migrant and/or 
     seasonal farm workers be no less than the amount 
     established by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) 
     for carriers which transport passengers. Because of the 
     difficulty many of those governed by this requirement 
     experienced in obtaining the insurance limits established 
     by the ICC and applicable to MSPA as of February 1, 1992, 
     this provision allows the Secretary of Labor to determine 
     the appropriate insurance levels based upon the statutory 
     criteria set forth in 401(b)(2)(B), which consider, among 
     other factors, the protection of the health and safety of 
     migrant and seasonal farmworkers and the extent to which 
     the insurance standard would cause an undue burden on 
     agricultural employers and associations or farm labor 
     contractors.
       It is necessary to reaffirm that voluntary carpool 
     arrangements established by workers for their mutual economy 
     and convenience are not subject to the Act's transportation 
     and insurance requirements.
       Workers participating in voluntary carpool arrangements 
     should not be deemed farm labor contractors under MSPA merely 
     because they receive remuneration from fellow workers to 
     defray the cost of transportation. Employers, agricultural 
     associations and farm labor contractors for whom voluntary 
     carpoolers (as defined in the Department of Labor's 
     regulations) work shall not be subject to transportation-
     related liability or liability for employment of an 
     unregistered farm labor contractor under MSPA for employing 
     such carpoolers.

                               H.R. 1715

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. WORKERS' COMPENSATION.

       (a) Amendments.--
       (1) Section 325 of the Legislative Branch Appropriations 
     Act, 1993 (Public Law 102-392) is repealed.
       (2) Section 504(d) of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural 
     Worker Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 1854(d)) is amended to read 
     as follows:
       ``(d)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, 
     where a State workers' compensation law is applicable and 
     coverage is provided for a migrant or seasonal agricultural 
     worker, the workers' compensation benefits shall be the 
     exclusive remedy for loss of such worker under this Act in 
     the case of bodily injury or death in accordance with such 
     State's workers' compensation law.
       ``(2) The exclusive remedy prescribed by paragraph (1) 
     precludes the recovery under subsection (c) of actual damages 
     for loss from an injury or death but does not preclude 
     recovery under subsection (c) for statutory damages or 
     equitable relief, except that such relief shall not include 
     back or front pay or in any manner, directly or indirectly, 
     expand or otherwise alter or affect (A) a recovery under a 
     State workers' compensation law or (B) rights conferred under 
     a State workers' compensation law.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection 
     (a)(2) shall apply to all cases in which a final judgment has 
     not been entered.

     SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF STATUTORY DAMAGES.

       (a) Amendment.--Section 504 of the Migrant and Seasonal 
     Agricultural Worker Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 1854) is 
     amended by adding after subsection (d) the following:
       ``(e) If the court finds in an action which is brought by 
     or for a worker under subsection (a) in which a claim for 
     actual damages is precluded because the worker's injury is 
     covered by a State workers' compensation law as provided by 
     subsection (d) that--

[[Page E 1944]]

       ``(1)(A) the defendant in the action violated section 
     401(b) by knowingly requiring or permitting a driver to drive 
     a vehicle for the transportation of migrant or seasonal 
     agricultural workers while under the influence of alcohol or 
     a controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the 
     Controlled Substances Act( 21 U.S.C. 802)) and the defendant 
     had actual knowledge of the driver's condition, and
       ``(B) such violation resulted in injury to or death of the 
     migrant or seasonal worker by or for whom the action was 
     brought and such injury or death arose out of and in the 
     course of employment as determined under the State workers' 
     compensation law,
       ``(2)(A) the defendant violated a safety standard 
     prescribed by the Secretary under section 401(b) which the 
     defendant was determined in a previous judicial or 
     administrative proceeding to have violated, and
       ``(B) such safety violation resulted in an injury or death 
     described in paragraph (1)(B),
       ``(3)(A)(i) the defendant willfully disabled or removed a 
     safety device prescribed by the Secretary under section 
     401(b), or
       ``(ii) the defendant in conscious disregard of the 
     requirements of section 401(b) failed to provide a safety 
     device required under such section, and
       ``(B) such disablement, removal, or failure to provide a 
     safety device resulted in an injury or death described in 
     paragraph (1)(B), or
       ``(4)(A) the defendant violated a safety standard 
     prescribed by the Secretary under section 401(b),
       ``(B) such safety violation resulted in an injury or death 
     described in paragraph (1)(B), and
       ``(C) the defendant at the time of the violation of section 
     401(b) also was--
       ``(i) an unregistered farm labor contractor in violation of 
     section 101(a), or
       ``(ii) a person who utilized the services of a farm labor 
     contractor of the type specified in clause (i) without taking 
     reasonable steps to determine that the farm labor contractor 
     possessed a valid certificate of registration authorizing the 
     performance of the farm labor contracting activities which 
     the contractor was requested by or permitted to perform with 
     the knowledge of such person,

     the court shall award not more than $10,000 per plaintiff per 
     violation with respect to whom the court made the finding 
     described in paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4), except that 
     multiple infractions of a single provision of this Act shall 
     constitute only one violation for purposes of determining the 
     amount of statutory damages due to a plaintiff under this 
     subsection and in the case of a class action, the court shall 
     award not more than the lesser of up to $10,000 per plaintiff 
     or up to $500,000 for all plaintiffs in such class action.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     shall apply to all cases in which a final judgment has not 
     been entered.

     SEC. 3. TOLLING OF STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.

       Section 504 of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker 
     Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 1854), as amended by section 2, is 
     amended by adding after subsection (e) the following:
       ``(f) If it is determined under a State workers' 
     compensation law that the workers' compensation law is not 
     applicable to a claim for bodily injury or death of a migrant 
     or seasonal agricultural worker, the statute of limitations 
     for bringing an action for actual damages for such injury or 
     death under subsection (a) shall be tolled for the period 
     during which the claim for such injury or death under such 
     State workers' compensation law was pending. The statute of 
     limitations for an action for other actual damages, statutory 
     damages, or equitable relief arising out of the same 
     transaction or occurrence as the injury or death of the 
     migrant or seasonal agricultural worker shall be tolled for 
     the period during which the claim for such injury or death 
     was pending under the State workers' compensation law.''.

     SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION COVERAGE.

       (a) Migrant Workers.--Section 201(a) of the Migrant and 
     Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 
     1821(a)) is amended by striking ``and'' at the end of 
     paragraph (6), by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
     (7) and inserting ``; and'', and by adding after paragraph 
     (7) the following:
       ``(8) whether State workers' compensation insurance is 
     provided, and, if so, the name of the State workers' 
     compensation insurance carrier, the name of the policyholder 
     of such insurance, the name and the telephone number of each 
     person who must be notified of an injury or death, and the 
     time period within which such notice must be given.

     Compliance with the disclosure requirement of paragraph (8) 
     for a migrant agricultural worker may be met if such worker 
     is given a photocopy of any notice regarding workers' 
     compensation insurance required by law of the State in which 
     such worker is employed. Such worker shall be given such 
     disclosure at the time of recruitment or if sufficient 
     information is unavailable at that time, at the earliest 
     practicable time but in no event later than the commencement 
     of work.''.
       (b) Seasonal Workers.--Section 301(a)(1) of the Migrant and 
     Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 
     1831(a)(1)) is amended by striking ``and'' at the end of 
     subparagraph (F), by striking the period at the end of 
     subparagraph (G) and inserting ``; and'', and by adding after 
     subparagraph (G) the following:
       ``(H) whether State workers' compensation insurance is 
     provided, and, if so, the name of the State workers' 
     compensation insurance carrier, the name of the policyholder 
     of such insurance, the name and the telephone number of each 
     person who must be notified of an injury or death, and the 
     time period within which such notice must be given.

     Compliance with the disclosure requirement of subparagraph 
     (H) may be met if such worker is given, upon request, a 
     photocopy of any notice regarding workers' compensation 
     insurance required by law of the State in which such worker 
     is employed.''.
       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a) 
     and (b) shall take effect upon the expiration of 90 days 
     after the date final regulations are issued by the Secretary 
     of Labor to implement such amendments.

     SEC. 5. LIABILITY INSURANCE.

       (a) Amendment.--Section 401(b)(3) of the Migrant and 
     Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 
     1841(b)(3)) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(3) The level of insurance required under paragraph 
     (1)(C) shall be determined by the Secretary considering at 
     least the factors set forth in paragraph (2)(B) and similar 
     farmworker transportation requirements under State law.''.
       (b) Regulations.--Within 180 days of the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall 
     promulgate regulations establishing insurance levels under 
     section 401(b)(3) of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural 
     Worker Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 1841(b)(3)) as amended by 
     subsection (a).
       (c) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     takes effect upon the expiration of 180 days after the date 
     of enactment of this Act or upon the issuance of final 
     regulations under subsection (b), whichever occurs first.

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