Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig announced Monday that Bypass Farms, a West Sacramento farm, will pay $23,565 in costs, penalties and restitution to resolve claims related to the spraying of multiple farm laborers with pesticides.
Yolo Superior Court Judge Timothy L. Fall ordered Bypass Farms to pay this amount after the parties reached an agreement on this and other terms through a stipulation.
The DA’s investigation found that Bypass Farms sprayed at least nine farm workers with pesticides on Aug. 18, 2014, after failing to follow pesticide instructions and warn these workers of the planned pesticide application.
The sprayed farmworkers immediately began experiencing various symptoms consistent with pesticide exposure — including headaches, nausea and vomiting — and ultimately sought medical care at a hospital, Reisig said.
Under the terms of the settlement, Bypass Farms will pay $23,565 in costs, penalties and restitution to those harmed by the pesticide spray. And, going forward, the farm’s owners will be required to use pesticides in a manner that is more protective of farm workers. The restitution funds will reimburse those sprayed for lost personal items and uncompensated sick time.
“The failure to follow pesticide regulations can lead to serious injury to farmworkers, as this case unfortunately shows,” Reisig said. “The District Attorney’s Office is committed to enforcing environmental and workplace safety laws that protect workers from this kind of behavior and to preventing these violations from reoccurring.”
Bypass Farms has been cooperative with the investigation and, in recent months, has implemented new policies and procedures designed to prevent future violations of pesticide-safety requirements.