Farm labor contractor fined in worker's death

In this June 2, 2008 file photo, Josefina Flores, right, carries a photograph of Maria Isabel Vasques Jimenez during a march to protest her death, near Thornton, Calif. On Wednesday, July 23, 2008, the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health fined Atwater-based Merced Farm Labor a record $262,700 for violating eight workplace safety requirements, in some cases intentionally. Authorities believe 17-year-old Jimenez died on May 14, 2008, because her supervisors denied her access to shade and water as she pruned white wine grapes for more than nine hours in nearly triple-digit heat. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

FRESNO, Calif.—The employer of a pregnant teenager who died of heat stroke after pruning grapevines for nine hours in hot weather was hit Wednesday with the highest fine ever issued to a California farming operation.

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health fined Merced Farm Labor $262,700 for violating eight workplace safety rules. The agency said some of the violations were intentional. A criminal investigation also is under way.

State authorities believe 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez died on May 14 because her supervisors denied her access to shade and water as she pruned white wine grapevines for more than nine hours in nearly triple-digit heat at a Central Valley vineyard.

"There was virtually a complete absence of shade or water, two of the very few tools that employers and employees have to fight the heat," said Len Welsh, chief of the division known as Cal-OSHA. "It's just too bad we can't undo the consequences of those violations."

"I feel good because at least they're being fined for not doing anything when all that happened," said her fiance, 19-year-old Florentino Bautista, who is back working in the grape vines for a different employer. "Now we'll have to see if they keep acting the same way."

Inspectors found that Merced Farm Labor not only failed to provide water but deliberately neglected to train workers and managers on how to stay safe while working in punishing temperatures. The company also willfully skirted preparing for a medical emergency, the agency said.

Those three violations are classified the most serious and each carries a $70,000 penalty, the highest afforded under civil law.

The company has 15 business days to file an appeal, and if it does so, the case could go before an administrative law judge who could reduce, accept or increase the fines, according to Dean Fryer, a Cal-OSHA spokesman.

San Joaquin County authorities say they have started a criminal investigation into Vasquez Jimenez's death, but they won't discuss the probe further while it's ongoing.

Attorney James Gumberg, who represents Atwater-based Merced Farm Labor, did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday.

Labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet is in the process of revoking the contractor's license.

Since Vasquez Jimenez's death, three other field laborers have died in incidents the agency is investigating as heat-related.

California -- which in 2005 implemented the country's first heat-illness standard -- requires that farms and contractors give workers water and breaks, have shade available and have emergency plans in place.

But the United Farm Workers and some Sacramento legislators say conditions in the fields have yet to improve substantially.

"Employers or labor contractors that do not comply with the heat illness prevention standards ... will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," read a statement Wednesday from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who made a brief appearance at Vasquez Jimenez's funeral. "These organizations must obey the law and protect workers' safety or we will shut them down."