Bosses Who Caused 17-Year-Old Farmworker's Death Could Get Off
Ninety-five degree heat beat down on 17 year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez as she pruned grapes in a field run by California's Merced Farm Labor. The nearest water cooler was a ten minute walk away, but it didn't matter. Workers reported that the foreman wasn't letting them stop to take a break anyways.
After nine hours Maria succumbed to the heat, collapsing into her fiance Florentino Bautisa's arms. Florencio says that a farm labor contractor balked before taking Maria to the hospital, telling workers to dab her with rubbing alcohol. When she didn't wake up, the contractor sent her to a local clinic instead of the hospital, with instructions that workers tell the clinic Maria fainted while excercising. When the clinic saw Maria, they sent her to a hospital. She arrived at the hospital comatose, her body temperature reaching 108 degrees.
She died two days later. While examining Maria's body, doctors discovered she was two months pregnant.
Tell James Willett that those responsible for Maria's death deserve jail time.
Maria didn't have to die. According to California state law, farmworkers must be provided shade when suffering from heat illness and sufficient drinking water every hour.
Unfortunately, farmworker employers often don't take such rules seriously. And Maria's employer, Merced Farm Labor, was no exception. They were fined in 2006 for violating heat regulations. Merced ignored the fine and continued to ignore the heat rules, leading to Maria's death. The day she collapsed, Maria's workday had begun at 6am with only one water break around 10:30.
Both Maria De Los Angeles Colunga, the owner of Merced Farm Labor, and the company's former safety coordinator Elias Armenta were charged with involuntary manslaughter in Maria's death.
Last week, however, lawyers in the case announced that they had reached a deal -- the defendants will plead to a lesser charge when they go before a judge on March 9th. Under the deal, the two will likely get off with little to no jail time, or possibly just community service.
"Enough time has elapsed and everyone needs to move along with their lives," said Merced's attorney.
"I don't think anyone was taking the heat regulations very seriously because they were only implemented in 2005," said Deputy District Attorney Lester Fleming. "I think this is the best resolution we could hope for."
Maria's family disagrees, and probably won't just "move along with their lives." Their teenage daughter died a preventable death picking grapes for a company that has repeatedly illegally violated the health and safety of its farmworker employees.
Maria's uncle Doroteo Jimenez told the United Farmworkers, "If it was their family, they wouldn't want to move on. They aren't taking this seriously because they don't know what the life of a farm worker is like."
He's right. Merced Farm Labor isn't taking the charges seriously and, without a clear precendent set in this case, farmworkers like Maria will continue to die in the fields. Those responsible for Maria's death should be held accountable, and should serve time in jail.
The United Farmworkers are calling on all those who care about farmworker health and safety to tell District Attorney James Willett that "jail time is a must and nothing short of that will satisfy the family or the public."
Photo Credit: UFW
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