Lawsuits

ACLU Sues California Agency for Farm Worker Abuses

The ACLU is suing California’s farm inspection agency for not enforcing standards that have lead to the illnesses and deaths of farm laborers, reports KABC L.A. The suit alleges that cal/OHSA failed to enforce standards at vineyards and farms where workers were denied water, rest, and shade in hot weather, causing six fatalities in 2008 alone. Giumarra Vineyards was named in the suit for allegedly situating water jugs hundreds of yards from workers where a trip would result in missed quotas. The agency has called the suit misguided, buoying itself on the fact that California is the first state to have a “heat-illness prevention standard.”

California Sued Over Farm Worker Safety [KABC LA]

ACLU Sues California Agency for Farm Worker Abuses