Atwater company employed teen who died last month

Record Staff Writer

The Atwater labor-contracting company that employed a 17-year-old farm worker who died last month of suspected heat-related causes no longer can operate in the fields under an order issued Thursday by the state Department of Industrial Relations.

Its license is set to be revoked.

Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez was employed by Merced Farm Labor when she died after working nine hours in the heat, allegedly without water or shade.

The company, which records show is owned by Maria De Los Angeles Colunga, has denied wrongdoing in Vasquez Jimenez's death. Attorney Jim Gumberg has said that Merced Farm Labor has been in compliance with worker-safety laws.

Soon after the teen collapsed in mid-May, state officials began investigating the contractor, which had been cited in 2006 for three labor violations - including two related to injury and illness prevention.

State Department of Industrial Relations authorities said they have found evidence that Merced Farm Labor is continuing to place workers in unsafe conditions.

The decision to halt its operation - a step the department characterized as unusual - was made to protect workers who may be at risk, spokeswoman Kate McGuire said. "It prevents them from operating because we have reason to believe that they haven't changed their ways," she said.

The order is effective immediately. McGuire said the contractor's license eventually will be revoked.

Gumberg said the action was politically motivated: "I think it's heavy-handed, and I think the people who are hurt the most in this are the people who won't be able to work tomorrow. This is a very high-end farm labor contractor. They do extensive training of their workers. They have shade. They have water. They're really an exemplary employer."

He said his clients have cooperated with Cal/OHSA investigators.

Doroteo Jimenez, Maria Isabel's uncle who remained employed by Merced Farm Labor as of Thursday, said, "I think it's good because, truly, they didn't take precautions for the well-being of the people."