Alligator Growing Operation Not A Farm

Gill v. Prehistoric Ponds, Inc., 2006 Ga. App. LEXIS 671 (Ga. Ct. App. June 8, 2006).

A worker at the defendant's alligator growing operation was bitten by one of the pugnacious critters and contracted osteomyelitis and salmonella. The worker's claim for workmen's compensation benefits was denied because the administrative law judge hearing the case concluded that he was a 'farm laborer' and that the defendant was engaged in farming and thus exempt from the Georgia workmen's compensation statute.

On appeal, the court of appeals held that alligator growing is not farming, because the ALJ had improperly considered them livestock, which is a defined term. Alligator growing operations are regulated by the Department of Natural Resources and alligators are considered game animals.

The court of appeals concluded that although the plaintiff was performing agricultural labor, his employer was not a farm because alligators are not considered livestock, and thus the employer was not exempt from the workmens' compensation statute.