Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor v. Michael Lauritzen and Marilyn Lauritzen, Individually and Doing Business as Lauritzen Farms

HARLINGTON WOOD, Jr., Circuit Judge.

This, as unlikely as it may at first seem, is a federal pickle case. The issue is whether the migrant workers who harvest the pickle crop of defendant Lauritzen Farms, in effect defendant Michael Laurit-zen, are employees for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (“FLSA”),1 or are instead independent contractors not subject to the requirements of the Act.2 The Secretary, alleging that the migrant harvesters are employees, not independent contractors, brought this action seeking to enjoin the defendants from violating the minimum wage requirements…