Northwest Reforestation Contractors Ass'n v. Summitt Forests, Inc.

Although I concur in much of the majority’s opinion, I cannot join in its misreading of ORS 658.475 to deny plaintiffs a claim for damages. The majority effectively guts the statute by giving reforestation contractors a foolproof method for avoiding private actions for their violations of the Farm Labor Contractors Act. All a contractor now has to do is to suspend its violations before a private party actually files a lawsuit. The contractor will then be free, once the trial court dismisses the private action, to resume its violations until the next lawsuit threatens. It will never risk an…