Opinion ID: 325002
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Conclusiveness of Section 1(9)

Text: 26 The statutory language leaves open the question whether Section 1(9)'s definition of 'responsible(e) connect(ion)' is rebuttable or irrebuttable, and the Secretary's view that it is irrefutable ignores well settled canons of statutory construction. The Secretary's interpretation obviously rests upon a literal reading of the language, a technique which well may stifle true legislative intent. 60 'It is a 'familiar rule, the Supreme Court has stated, that a thing may be within the letter of the statute and yet not within the statute, because not within its spirit nor within the intention of its makers. 61 Moreover, a construction of a statute leading to unjust or absurd consequences should be avoided. 62 And 'even when the plain meaning (of statutory language) did not produce absurd results but merely an unreasonable one 'plainly at variance with the policy of the legislation as a whole' (the Court) has followed that purpose, rather than the literal words.' 63 27 Lacking enlightenment from the bare language of Section 1(9), we look to its legislative history, and there we find nothing showing that Congress opted for an incontestable formula for ascertaining 'responsibl(e) connect(ion)' through corporate officership. As originally enacted in 1930, Section 8 empowered the Secretary to suspend or revoke the authority of a licensee to do business under the Act, but contained no provision enabling restrictions on future employment of those who were violators in an employee capacity. 64 Thus, for example, a violator could circumvent the Act by the subterfuge of acting as an 'employee' of a dummy corporation newly licensed. 65 By enactment of what is now Section 8(b) in 1934 66 and amendment thereof in 1956, 67 the Secretary was authorized to revoke a license when the licensee, after notice from the Secretary, continued to employ in a 'responsible position' one whose own license had been revoked or suspended or one who had been 'responsibly connected' with a licensee who incurred revocation or suspension. 68 These charges, however, left to the Secretary the task of ascertaining what in the way of new employment constituted a 'responsible position,' and who in the way of old employment had been 'responsibly connected' with a violating licensee. 28 It was to ameliorate the problems incidental to such determinations that Congress in 1962 again amended Section 8(b). 69 As Secretary Freeman commented, a major purpose of the bill proposing the amendments was 29 to improve and clarify the provisions relating to relicensing or employment of persons who had violated the act or had been affiliated with such persons; 70 30 as he pointed out, 31 frequent attempts are made to circumvent the law following revocation or suspension of a license. Effective enforcement of the act, therefore, rests on having comprehensive, clear, and equitable provisions relating to relicensing and employment which fully cover the situations encountered in this area in the fruit and vegetable industry. 71 32 Additionally, the hearings on the bill which eventually produced the 1962 amendments disclosed difficulty in securing evidence that an individual had a 'responsible position' with a new employer-licensee, 72 and the focus on the troubles brewed by 'responsible position' with a new employer was much greater than on any germinated by 'responsibl(e) connect(ion)' with a former employer. As the House Committee on Agriculture explained, 33 (a)ny licensee hiring a person without the approval of the Secretary in violation of this provision, after notice and opportunity for hearing, may have his license suspended or revoked. At present the act applies only to the employment of a person in a responsible position. This has caused serious difficulties due to the problem of delineating what constitutes a responsible position under all circumstances and the difficulty of ascertaining the true nature of the employee's relationship with the licensee. Under the present provisions of the act the restrictions against employment are directed specifically to persons whose licenses had been revoked or suspended and persons responsibly connected therewith. The bill extends such restrictions to persons whose licenses could have been revoked or suspended if they had had active licenses. As amended, section 8(b) would prohibit employment of persons covered by it unless such employment is approved by the Secretary; whereas at present it prohibits such employment only after notice by the Secretary. 73 34 Simultaneously with the 1962 amendment of Section 8(b), Congress added the present Section 1(9) as a new provision of the Act. The explanation for this addition was sparse. When the Committee reported the bill out favorably, it stated merely that Section 1(9) would give the term 'responsibly connected' and others 'specific meaning, thus avoiding possible confusion as to interpretations.' 74 There is nothing to indicate that the Committee was so gravely concerned about an employee's past relations with a defaulting licensee as to intend the provision of an absolute rule on that score. 35 We do not find in this history a clear purpose to fashion what in the Secretary's view was an irrebuttable presumption of responsible connection with an organizational licensee merely from officership in the organization. Secretary Freeman did not ask for such a presumption, 75 and the House Committee on Agriculture stated as the single object of Section 1(9) the provision of a definition to unify interpretations of 'responsibly connected,' as distinguished from an effort to absolutely bar inquiry as to whether one who satisfied the definition was really 'responsibly connected' with an offending licensee. 76 What seems as likely to have been contemplated was the specification of a standard by which the caliber of licensee-connections could be ascertained, rather than a mechanical and possibly inequitable ascertainment of such a connection for all cases. If either the Secretary or the Committee had in mind the drastic effect which appellees attribute to Section 1(9), we would have expected a good deal more explication in that regard. 36 Moreover, assuming a passionate congressional concern about proof that an employee was responsibly connected, rather than a definition of when an employee was so affiliated, it does not follow that Congress settled on an irreversible presumption as the solution. Undeniably, the proof problem is eased greatly by a rule establishing prima facie a responsible connection from officership and casting upon the officer the obviously heavy burden of demonstrating satisfactorily to the Secretary that such a connection did not actually exist. Congress has frequently supplied rebuttable presumptions and inferences to meet similar difficulties of proof, 77 and there is no significant indication that Congress felt that more was needed here. 37 The injustice, 78 indeed the absurdity, 79 of irrebuttably presuming that one is responsibly connected when actually he is not is readily apparent. If those who profess to know the facts are to be believed, Quinn was an officer of DeVita Fruit Company only on paper. Undeniably, the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act was designed to strike at persons in authority who acquiesced in wrongdoing as well as the wrongdoers themselves. 80 But by the Secretary's construction of Section 1(9), it also smites one who was not only unaware of the wrongdoing but also powerless to curb it. 81 38 We are not persuaded that Congress, in enacting Section 1(9), intended that consequence. We think that when Congress decides to impose a conclusive presumption, its purpose must be, not merely arguable, but unmistakable. Here there is an almost total lack of indicia of such a purpose in the legislative history of Section 1(9). At the same time, the Act is replete with delegations to the Secretary of duties--some, difficult duties--requiring exertion of his fact-finding and discretionary power. 82 There is ample basis for believing that in promulgating the formula set forth in Section 1(9), Congress contemplated the same administrative exercise. 39 To sum up, Congress provided, as the Secretary proposed, that once the Secretary determined that a person's license be suspended or revoked, the ensuing sanction should be prescribed by a 'clear and equitable' 83 rule that denied him any employment, for the pertinent period, rather than require a new determination of precisely which positions were closed. But for something as consequential as the initial order of suspension or revocation of license, which traditionally rests on determination of personal fault, it would take more than the bare test and skimpy history of the statute before us to establish that this consequence was intended to be visited on a basis of absolute liability, of liability without either personal fault or a realistic capacity to counteract or obviate the fault of others. 40 We hold, then, that the rule of 'responsibl(e) connect(ion)' forged by Section 1(9) is rebuttable. 84 It operates unless and until there is a proffer of proof of facts and circumstances which might reasonably lead to the conclusion that actually the connection was lacking. When, however, such a proffer is made, the opportunity of proof must be accorded, and the issue must be resolved on the evidence. Quinn made a suitable proffer, and must now be given a chance to submit his proof. 85