29 U.S.C. § 1854
Any person aggrieved by a violation of this chapter or any regulation under this chapter by a farm labor contractor, agricultural employer, agricultural association, or other person may file suit in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction of the parties, without respect to the amount in controversy and without regard to the citizenship of the parties and without regard to exhaustion of any alternative administrative remedies provided herein.
Upon application by a complainant and in such circumstances as the court may deem just, the court may appoint an attorney for such complainant and may authorize the commencement of the action.
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-
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 chapter 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.
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.
29 U.S.C. § 1854
EDITORIAL NOTES
AMENDMENTS1995-Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104-49, §1(a)(2), amended subsec. (d) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (d) read as follows:"(d)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, 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 chapter in the case of bodily injury or death."(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 an injunction." Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 104-49, §2(a), added subsec. (e). Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 104-49, §3, added subsec. (f). 1992-Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 102-392 added subsec. (d).
STATUTORY NOTES AND RELATED SUBSIDIARIES
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1995 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 104-49, §1(b), Nov. 15, 1995, 109 Stat. 432, provided that: "The amendment made by subsection (a)(2) [amending this section] shall apply to all cases in which a final judgment has not been entered." Pub. L. 104-49, §2(b), Nov. 15, 1995, 109 Stat. 433, provided that: "The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall apply to all cases in which a final judgment has not been entered."
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1992 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 102-392, title III, §325(c), Oct. 6, 1992, 106 Stat. 1728, provided that the amendment of this section by section 325(a) of Pub. L. 102-392 would apply to actions commenced after Oct. 6, 1992, but not after the expiration of 9 months after such date, with waiver and extension provisions for certain actions, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 104-49, §1(a)(1), Nov. 15, 1995, 109 Stat. 432.
EFFECTIVE DATESection effective 90 days from Jan. 14, 1983, see section 524 of Pub. L. 97-470 set out as a note under section 1801 of this title.
- Secretary
- The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of Labor or the Secretary's authorized representative.
- State
- The term "State" means any of the States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and Guam.
- agricultural association
- The term "agricultural association" means any nonprofit or cooperative association of farmers, growers, or ranchers, incorporated or qualified under applicable State law, which recruits, solicits, hires, employs, furnishes, or transports any migrant or seasonal agricultural worker.
- agricultural employer
- The term "agricultural employer" means any person who owns or operates a farm, ranch, processing establishment, cannery, gin, packing shed or nursery, or who produces or conditions seed, and who either recruits, solicits, hires, employs, furnishes, or transports any migrant or seasonal agricultural worker.
- farm labor contractor
- The term "farm labor contractor" means any person, other than an agricultural employer, an agricultural association, or an employee of an agricultural employer or agricultural association, who, for any money or other valuable consideration paid or promised to be paid, performs any farm labor contracting activity.
- person
- The term "person" means any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, cooperative, or corporation.