Pregnant teen farmworker's death sparks criminal case

By WES SANDER

Capital Press

While a state board appears poised to reject suggestions for stricter heat-stress rules, labor interests hope a pending criminal case will scare more farm employers into compliance.

It would be the first known case of an employer facing criminal charges for a heat-related death, and the United Farm Workers say it has already led to some improvements in the field.

"It really sends a strong message to employers," UFW spokeswoman Merlyn Calderon said. "The fact that the farm-labor contractors thought they could get a deal ... but coming in and finding that the DA is going to try them to the fullest extent of the law, that really is a huge victory in and of itself."

In a July 29 court appearance, Judge Michael Garrigan granted defendants' requests to delay until October a hearing on whether a criminal suit over the heat-related death of a pregnant teenage farmworker will proceed to trial.

Maria Colunga, the owner of the now-defunct Merced Farm Labor contractor, and Elias Armenta, the company's former safety coordinator, face two felony charges, including involuntary manslaughter, and three misdemeanors for labor violations in the 2008 death of 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez. According to prosecutors, a third defendant, Raul Martinez, the foreman of the crew, has fled.

Jimenez's death escalated the issue of heat-illness safety among farmworkers. It followed the state's 2005 implementation of rules for providing shade and water to workers, the rules that UFW accuses the company of breaking.

The state's workplace-safety board is expected to vote at its August meeting on permanent amendments to the heat rules. The amendments are small, as the requirement for shade structures remains at 85 degrees.

The agency has also kept the high-heat trigger at 95 degrees, rather than lowering it to 85, as farmworkers had sought. At the higher temperature, employers are required to more closely monitor employees for signs of heat stress.

Deputy District Attorney Lester Fleming said that although the case is apparently the first of its kind, the decision to prosecute was unrelated to its high-profile nature.

"The negligence was sufficient in this case for us to prosecute," he said.

Manuel Cunha, president of the Nisei Farmers League, said the stepped-up compliance is owed to improved coordination in programs for training employers, who train their workers.

Those efforts have created vivid results this year, Cunha said. Employers are often found surpassing the rules by keeping shade up during all work hours, among other measures. Random visits have shown workers who seem well-versed in heat-stress precautions, he said.

That said, it can be difficult to control what employees do or how they feel, and having permanent standards will help stabilize the situation for employers, who face liability if the rules are not properly observed, Cunha said.

"Our farmers are doing everything they can," he said.

The state is investigating the causes of five deaths in June and July, four of which occurred on farms. The fifth was a construction worker. Last year the state investigated 10 deaths, of which a single construction worker was deemed to have died from heat illness.