The only survivor and six out of seven farm workers killed during the last year’s Madera disaster are appealing to their employer and the company’s manager for negligence, according to them, have encouraged a deadly collision.
The second altered complaint against Selma, which is located in the Higher Court of Fresno District, describes the unsafe and exploited employee transport system, suspected of coordinating the company’s CEO, Ruben Ojeda Chino. He bought cheap and old vans, registered them with a false name and deliberately appointed unlicensed drivers to operate them, the complaint states.
He also charged employees for daily rides, though they had no other way to work, according to the complaint.
Chino “demanded employees to use these vehicles to get to and from the defendant Lion Farms,” the complaint said. “The lion’s farms were aware of or should have been aware of the behavior of their supervisor.”
Families September 22 The court prior to Lion Farms, initially submitted in February, was caused by one of the deadly accidents associated with the Central Valley in recent years.
Early 2024. 23 February In the morning, eight farmers drove to the West at 7 County Madera when they were in 2001. The GMC Safari van was struck by a lonely driver, determined by the California Highway Patrol into the wrong tape. Only one person survived the accident: Benito Perez, who was driving a farmer’s van.
The CHP concluded that only two of the farmer workers were wearing seat belts. The US Department of Labor concluded that Chino deliberately appointed an unlicensed driver who used a van to transport employees to Lion Farms’ property on the morning of an accident, according to a federal lawsuit against Lion Farms earlier this year. The Feds accused the company and its owners – Bruce Lion, Alfred Lion and Daniel Lion, based on a federal complaint – ignoring federal farmers’ transport safety requirements while their crew manager coordinated workers. The company resolved the federal case in August for $ 128,89.50.
Fresno Bee did not receive an answer to its request to comment on this story on both sides of the Frena County case. However, in July, Univision announced that Perez and family of farmers who were killed in $ 20 million.
In response to previous complaints in the case, Lion Farms denied the plaintiffs’ “each” suspicion. The company, its reply, shows that the negligence and negligence of Perez and the dead farmers “have done and contributed to the damage that complains if any.”
Both sides asked for jurors to be a court proceedings planned to begin in 2027. January
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The Lion Farms supervisor carried out a operational transport system, according to a complaint
According to the complaint, Chino “had power and power” to make decisions on behalf of Lion Farms when he hired farmers and coordinated their transport to ensure the work of the company. Many employees who allegedly demanded the use of a driving system came straight from Mexico with “little money or no money and no vehicles to work, according to the document.
The complaint alleges that Chino tax them $ 13 for driving and collected taxes themselves.
The manager owned about 10 vehicles, stating that employees were transported to and from the property of Lion Farms. He paid $ 1,500 to $ 2500 cash for the minibuses he purchased as “As-Is” from community members, the complaint states.
“Chino, of course, registered vans, including a Safari van, a false name deliberately trying to avoid liability for themselves and the defendants Lion Farms if someone goes wrong,” the complaint states.
According to the document, Chino was “intentionally hidden” from employees that farmer drivers were not legally licensed – including Victor Ciril Hernandez, who operates a farmer Van, who strikes a deadly Madera disaster. There was no security policy in the Chino system, the complaint states. According to the complaint, many farmers’ employees are from the regions of Mexico rural, where federal law began to demand only the use of seat belts for all passengers for passengers in 2022.
“The lions’ farms ratified the behavior of their care worker Chino, allowing the unsafe and the behavior of the defendant Chin to continue to acquire and provide Lions Farms to the defendants, regardless of the obvious and increased danger to safety,” the complaint said.
The woman honors the final respect for one of the seven farmers who died on 23 February. Catastrophe in Madera County. 2024. March 9th. A funeral Mass was held in the Kerman High School room.
The Lion Farms case states
By submitting an application, responding to the previously altered plaintiffs’ complaint, Lion Farms said “100 %” The visit to this case was part of Perez and agricultural workers killed.
The company’s application states that employees did not use them and employees did not use them.
Employees “failed to use routine care for their safety and well-being,” the application states. “The fact that the inability to perform normal care, approaching and directly caused and / or contributing to the alleged violation of the illness and complaint.”
Among other defense arguments, Lion Farms says that any damage was caused by an “inevitable accident” – one that did not blame the farmer’s van Ciril Hernandez.
The accident, “as such, was an act of God without fault or responsibility”, according to the Lion Farms case.
Second changed complaint about negligence on Lion Farms Egalicia
Defendant’s Lion Farms Reply to the first -time complaint of Egalicia