Free Other Notice - District Court of Arizona - Arizona

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

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

Case No. CV03-2127 PHX-MHM AFFIDAVIT OF JIMMY BYRD

Eagle Produce Limited Partnership, Phoenix Agro Invest, Inc., SAM Management, Inc., Defendants. STATE OF ARIZONA County of Maricopa ) ) ss. )

I, JIMMY BYRD, being first duly sworn upon my oath, depose and state: 1. I am the General Manager of Production for Eagle Produce. In that role I am

responsible for all farming activities, harvesting activities, shop activities and packaging and shipping activities. 2. Each year Eagle Produce's farm goes through a cycle where land is prepared

for planting, crops are planted, harvested, and finally the crop is destroyed allowing the cycle to repeat. 3. layoffs. The cyclical nature of farming leads to fluctuating work, which causes seasonal

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Case 2:03-cv-02127-MHM

Document 82-2

Filed 08/26/2005

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4.

The scope of work for each department at the farm can suddenly change due to

weather, unexpected soil conditions, mechanical failure of equipment and abrupt changes in planting and farming schedules. Sudden changes in a department's scope of work can cause unexpected hiring or laying off of employees. 5. When the scope of work increases for a department, Eagle Produce hires new

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employees or transfers employees from other departments to handle the increased work load. When the scope of work decreases, employees are transferred to other departments, if other work is available, or laid off. 6. The farming tractor crew, designated as Crew 94, is responsible for preparing

the land for harvesting. The number 94 is a random designation; Crew 94 is Eagle Produce's only farming tractor crew. Crew 94 has no direct role in harvesting the crop. Once the crop is harvested from the land, Crew 94 can begin to prepare the land for the next season. 7. Eagle Produce utilizes two types of planting styles for its melon crops: open

and plastic mulch. 8. Open planting takes Crew 94 the greatest number of hours to complete as

numerous fanning operations are required to prepare land that utilizes open planting. 9. Fields that are prepared with plastic mulch require significantly fewer hours to

prepare compared to fields that utilize open planting. 10. Plastic mulch that can be reused the year after it is originally laid down is

referred to as second year plastic mulch. The greatest efficiency is realized with fields using second year plastic mulch because only a minimal amount of work is required to prepare those fields for planting.

Case 2:03-cv-02127-MHM

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11.

The effect of increased plastic mulch use is that Crew 94 could prepare the

same amount of land in significantly less time. FURTHER AFFIANT SAYETH NOT.

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Jijpdfy Byrd

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this _Q^day of^^i 2005.
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My Commission Expires: ^-/-0&

KIMBEREIYMENDOZA Hoiory Poetic, state ol Adtono la Poi County My Cam mil i ion Expliat

June 01.2008

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Case 2:03-cv-02127-MHM

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Filed 08/26/2005

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