Free Objection - District Court of Arizona - Arizona

EXHIBIT A

Case 2:03-cv-02127-MHM

Document 84-2

Filed 09/01/2005

Page 1 of 12

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Abel Ruiz Diaz, Ubaldo Moreno, Piedad H. Renteria, Alejandro D. Mancilla,

vs.

) ) . ) ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) ) Case No. :
) CV03-2127PHX-MHM

Eagle Produce Limited Partnership, Phoenix Agro-Invest, Inc. Defendants.

) J ) ) )

DEPOSITION OF STEPHEN A. MARTORI. II

Phoenix, Arizona February 22, 2005 9:31 o'clock a.m.

Prepared by: Deborah L. Tucker, RPR Certified Court Reporter No. 50464

(Copy)

·

bash PHOENIX DEPOSITION REPORTERS ^VIDEOCONFERENCING Case 2:03-cv-02127-MHM Document 84-2 Filed 09/01/2005 Page 2 of 12

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&JoOash

www.coashandcoash.com 602-258'1440

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i 11

46 21

1

MR. NEWTON :

Form, calls for a legal

:46 22

2 conclusion.

11 :46 23 11 :46 :37 11 :46 :38 11 :46 :51 11 :46 :54 11 :46 :56 11 :46 :58 11 :47 :11 11 :47 :14

3
4 my belief.

THE WITNESS:

I don't know the legal.

That's

5

Q.

BY MS. RODIS :

Okay.

So besides being a

6 limited partner with Eagle Produce, do you have any 7 other role with Eagle Produce?
8 9
10

MR. NEWTON : Vague , ambiguous, form.

THE WITNESS:
Q. BY MS. RODIS :

No.
So do the limited partners of

11 Eagle Produce have any say in what crops to grow?

1^:47 :20 12

MR. NEWTON:

Form, vague .

:23 13 THE WITNESS: ^ 7 4 11 :47 :25 14 partners, no.
11 :47 :26 15

Not as a capacity of limited

Q.

BY MS. RODIS

Do the limited partners have

11 :47 :29 16 any authority to hire and fire workers? 11 :47 :32 17 11 :47 :33 18 11 :47 :34 19

MR. NEWTON :

Form.

THE WITNESS:
Q. BY MS. RODIS :

No.
Do the limited partners have

11 :47 :38 20 the ability to decide the planting 11 :47 :43 21 11 :47 :45 22 11 :47 :49 23

schedule?

MR. NEWTON : Form, vague . THE WITNESS:
Q. BY MS. RODIS :

No.
Do the limited partners of

11 :47 :51 24 Eagle Produce have the authority to determine the pay

11:47 :54 25 rates of tractor drivers?

COASH & COASH, INC.
Case 2:03-cv-02127-MHM Document 84-2

(602) 258-1440
Filed 09/01/2005 Page 3 of 12

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57 n:47 : 11 :47 58 11 :48 01 11 :48 03 11 :48 :07 11 :48 :08 11 :48 :10

1

MR. NEWTON:
THE WITNESS:

Form, vague.
No.

2 3

Q.

BY MS . RODIS:

Is it your position that only

4 the general partners, being Phoenix Agro- Invest and Sam 5 Management, have that authority? 6

MR. NEWTON:

Form, mischaracterizes testimony,

7 vague and ambiguous . 8

11:48 :10
11 :48 :13

THE WITNESS:

I believe just Sam Management as

9 the general managing partner has that authority.

But,

11 :48 :16 10 again, it's a legal question.

I don't -- from a

11:48 :18 11 practical standpoint I know they don't. 1 : 8 :49 12 ^ 4

Q.

BY MS . RODIS:

So when you say that you

:52 13 supervise Jimmy Byrd, that means -- does that mean that ^ 8 4 11:48 :58 14 you supervise him as the president of Sam Management?
11 :49 :01 15

MR. NEWTON:

Form, calls for a legal

11:49 :02 16 conclusion. 11:49 :02 17
11 :49 :11 18

THE WITNESS:

I don't know.

Q.

BY MS . RODIS:

Are the limited partners of

11:49 :13 19 Eagle Produce authorized to supervise any workers or 11:49 :19 20 farm managers?
11 :49 :20 21 11 :49 :21 22

MR. NEWTON:
THE WITNESS:

Form, vague.
No.

11:49 :22 23

Q.

BY MS. RODIS:

So as a limited partner of

11 :49 :24 24 Eagle Produce, you don't have the authority to supervise

1 : 9 :29 25 a tractor driver? ^4

COASH & COASH, INC.

(602) 258-1440

Case 2:03-cv-02127-MHM

Document 84-2

Filed 09/01/2005

Page 4 of 12

EXHIBIT B

Case 2:03-cv-02127-MHM

Document 84-2

Filed 09/01/2005

Page 5 of 12

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Abel Ruiz Diaz, Ubaldo Moreno, Piedad H. Renteria, Alejandro D. Mancilla, Plaintiffs, vs. Eagle Produce Limited Partnership, Phoenix Agro-Invest, Inc. Defendants.

) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No.:
) CV03-2127PHX-MHM

) ) ) ) )

TELEPHONIC DEPOSITION OF OWEN BRANDT

Phoenix, Arizona February 17, 2005 9:07 o'clock a.m.

Prepared by: Deborah L. Tucker, RPR Certified Court Reporter No. 50464

¥

(Copy)

Case 2:03-cv-02127-MHM

Coash

PHOENIX DEPOSITION REPORTERS &. VIDEOCONFERENCING Document 84-2 Filed 09/01/2005 Page 6 of 12 CkL-OaSn www.coosha7idcoosh.com 602*258*1440

60

Q.

BY MS. RODIS:

Well, why don't you tell me the

ones you liked?
3 4
5 6 7 8 or what? 9
10

A. Q.

I didn't dislike any of them. So did you like all of them?

A.

As far as -MR. COULTER: THE WITNESS: Form. -- workers or as far as friends,

I was their boss, I wasn't their friend. BY MS. RODIS: Yeah, as far as --

Q. A.

Even my foreman, I was his boss, I wasn't his I didn't go over to his house and eat dinner. What are you talking about?

11 friend.

12 Explain yourself. 13

Q.

Did you like all the plaintiffs as far as

14 workers? 15 16 17

MR. COULTER: THE WITNESS: Q. BY MS. RODIS:

Form. Yes, I did. Can you recall having any

18 complaints about the plaintiffs as workers? 19

A.

Not that I can recall.

1 don't know.

You

20 would have to look in their records, and I don't have

21 any of that with me.

You'd have to look in their little

22 -- in their Martori file, file folders, and see what's 23 written in there. 24

Q.

At the time that you supervised Crew 94, did

25 you authorize issuing raises to any of the workers?

COASH & COASH, INC.

(602) 258-1440

Case 2:03-cv-02127-MHM

Document 84-2

Filed 09/01/2005

Page 7 of 12

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1
2

A.

Did I what?

Q.

Did you give raises?

Did you give pay raises

to any of the workers? A. Yeah, I gave pay raises to several people.

Whether it was in that time frame or not, I have no earthly idea. But, yes, in my time frame there I gave

pay raises to quite a few people. Q. Do you remember giving pay raises to any of

the plaintiffs?
10 11

A. Q.

I don't remember. On what basis did you give pay raises to your

12 drivers? 13 14

MR. COULTER:

Form.

THE WITNESS:

Work performance the year

15 before, I would imagine, record keeping, stuff like 16 that. 17

Q.

BY MS. RODIS:

What do you mean when you say

18 "record keeping"? 19

A.

The drivers filled out their own time sheet,

20 okay, and then I had to go over it, correct it, and put 21 it in the computer. 22

If they labeled everything correctly and -- I It's, you know, it's your

23 mean, it's not real hard. 24 time sheet.

You'd do it right if you were being, you

25 know, if it mattered for like your pay, you know, you

COASH & COASH, INC.
Case 2:03-cv-02127-MHM Document 84-2

(602) 258-1440
Filed 09/01/2005 Page 8 of 12

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would -- I would assume that you would do it right. You know, if they did it correctly, it took me -- you know, I took that into consideration also, record
keeping.

You know when they went out to the field to spray chemicals, okay, when I sit down, when I put them in the field and gave them chemicals to spray, they had to tell me how many gallons they sprayed. Okay. If

they come back and, you know, they sprayed three fields,
10 you know, one field's maybe a little bit bigger than the

11
13

other field, one field may take less than the field They have to tell me that.

12 before, or the field after.

So all they have to do is they have to write

14 it down and give it to, you know, what they sprayed in 15 what field so I can fill out the forms so we can account 16 for our bookkeeper of where our chemicals went. 17 keeping. 18

Record

Q.

Did you consider any other factors when giving

19 raises? 20 21

A. Q.

I would assume.

I don't know.

Have you ever given a raise to a person when

22 you thought they didn't do a good job? 23 24

MR. COULTER: THE WITNESS:

Form. I don't know. Just because you

25 did a bad job one day doesn't mean you didn't do a good

COASH & COASH, INC.

(602) 258-1440
Filed 09/01/2005 Page 9 of 12

Case 2:03-cv-02127-MHM

Document 84-2

63

j ob the next.

Q.

BY MS. RODIS:

Would you give a raise to a

worker if you thought he was a bad worker?
MR. COULTER: THE WITNESS: Form. I don't know. I mean, you want

me to speculate on my answer or --

Q.

BY MS. RODIS:

No, I don't want you to

speculate, sir, I want to know about the policies and procedures that you had when supervising a crew.
10

Did you give raises to workers that didn't do a good job as tractor drivers?
A.

11
12

I don't know.

If I recall right, at one point If

13 in time I gave everybody a raise that worked for me. 14 I didn't, I could be wrong, but I don't think I am. 15 16

Q. A.

And why did you give everyone a raise, sir? I gave everybody a little bit. Some guys got

17 a bit more than others. 18 didn't matter. 19

Some guys -- you know, it

I mean, everybody got a raise.

Q.

How did you determine how much of a raise to

20 give to each worker? 21 22

A. Q.

I don't know. Did you give some workers a 25-cent raise and

23 some workers a 75-cent raise? 24 A.

No, I didn't go -- no, there was nothing near We're talking about farm labor. I

25 that extreme, no.

COASH & COASH, INC.
Case 2:03-cv-02127-MHM Document 84-2

(602) 258-1440
Filed 09/01/2005 Page 10 of 12

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mean, it's not -- you know, it's not like they, you know, have an Associate's degree on farming. labor.
Q.

It's farm

You said before you gave some workers a bigger What difference --

raise than other workers.
6 7 8 9

A. Q. A. Q.

A nickel. A nickel, okay. Yeah, ten cents. How did you decide how much of a raise to give

10 to each worker? 11 12 13 14

A. Q.

You know what, I don't know. Did you consider their performance? MR. COULTER: THE WITNESS: Form, foundation. You know, I don't know. At the

15 time I sit down and did it I don't know what I was 16 thinking or how exactly I thought of doing it.

I don't

17 know if I took their -- if I took their performance, if 18 I took, you know, are they at work every day on time? 19 You know, I don't know what I did, or I don't know how I 20 did it. 21

Q.

BY MS. RODIS:

Are you aware of any Eagle

22 Produce policy about giving raises? 23 24 25

A. Q.

I don't know.

I assume it's in the handbook.

Did you follow the policy? MR. COULTER: Form.

COASH & COASH, INC.

(602) 258-1440

Case 2:03-cv-02127-MHM

Document 84-2

Filed 09/01/2005

Page 11 of 12

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THE WITNESS:

I don't know.

I do know it was I

signed by my superiors, as far as the situation goes. mean it was probably Jimmy Byrd.
4 5 6 7

(Court reporter clarification.) (Record read.) THE WITNESS: MS. RODIS: Oh, I don't know. I think he said that every one was

signed by his superior. THE WITNESS:
10 Jimmy Byrd.

Yeah, every one was signed by

So, I mean, no, I cannot personally just go Here.

11 tell a guy, "Hey, you want an extra dollar? 12 Here's a dollar." 13

It has to be signed off by my boss.

So I mean, as far as me just running around

14 giving everybody extra money, no, it didn't happen. 15

Q.

BY MS. RODIS:

Are there any other managers or

16 supervisors that would have firsthand knowledge of the 17 performance of the plaintiffs, the job performance of 18 the plaintiffs? 19 20

MR. COULTER: THE WITNESS:

Form, foundation. You know what, I don't know.

21 Maybe the grower at the time, which would have been 22 Edward Bowers. 23 don't know. 24 to them.

I don't know.

Maybe Jimmy Byrd.

I

I don't know how close attention they paid

They may not have paid any attention to them.

25 I don't know.

COASH & COASH, INC.

(602) 258-1440

Case 2:03-cv-02127-MHM

Document 84-2

Filed 09/01/2005

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