NEWS 10 SACRAMENTO

May 27, 2008

Contractor Investigated in Farmworker's Death was Cited in Past

LODI, CA - Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez migrated to California last winter to help support her widowed mother in Mexico. No one anticipated the 18-year-old migrant worker would end up dead after collapsing on May 14 in a Farmington field in the 100-degree peak of a heatwave.

Now, the death of the teen has San Joaquin County investigators looking into whether poor working conditions for immigrant workers led to her death.

"She was only on the job for three days. What makes me sad is that it took so long for her to get help," said Jimenez's uncle Doroteo Jimenez.

Supervisors reportedly tried reviving the teen with a wet towel and rubbing alcohol after she collapsed while in a West Coast Grape Farming vineyard in Farmington.

She was finally driven to a Lodi medical clinic even though a fire station was just one block away.

Jimenez died two days later at Lodi Memorial Hospital. Doctors found the teen was also two months pregnant at the time of her death.

California's Occupational Safety and Health agency had issued a heat-danger warning to employers the day Jimenez died. The same agency is now investigating her death.

State law says water and shade must be provided to farmworkers who ask.

"But some employers don't comply and some undocumented workers don't ask out of fear," said immigrant rights activist Luis Magaña.

Merced Farm Labor, the farm labor contractor who hired Jimenez, is being investigated in connection with the girl's death.

In November of 2006, Cal/OSHA issued three citations to Merced Farm Labor. The citations stated that Merced Farm Labor exposed farm labor employees to the hazards of heat stroke, failed to provide employee training on heat stress issues and failed to provide toilet and hand washing facilities for its employees. Each citation carried a $750 penalty.