WA Farm Fined $2 Million After 2 Workers Died From Coronavirus

BREWSTER, WA — The State Department of Labor & Industries says their investigation into the deaths of two employees at a central Washington farm uncovered dozens of safety and health violations.

After compiling their findings, the department has issued Gebbers Farm Operations, LP in Brewster more than $2 million in fines. Investigators say it's one of the largest workplace safety fines in state history.

“Gebbers made it very apparent to investigators they had no intention of following the rules as written regarding temporary agricultural worker housing and transportation,” L&I Director Joel Sacks said.

L&I began to investigate the farm after they received an anonymous tip from a farmworker. That worker reported that someone at the farm's camp had died of COVID-19, alleging that the farm management not only didn't test the other workers for the coronavirus, but split up the workers who shared a cabin with the deceased, forcing them to bunk in different cabins with other workers.

Another caller told L&I he was concerned that "hundreds" of workers at Gebbers had COVID-19, including himself. He reported that farm owners did nothing to help the sick and "left them in their cabins to die," according to L&I.

The L&I sent workers to investigate and confirmed that two farmworkers had died from COVID-19. One of the workers, a 37-year-old temporary worker from Mexico died on July 8. L&I says Gebbers Farm management did not report his death, which they were legally required to do within 8 hours of his passing. The second worker, a 63-year-old man from Jamaica, collapsed and died while working on July 31. Both deaths were determined to be caused by COVID-19.

During the early stages of their investigation, L&I says they found several troubling safety concerns. One of their big issues was bunking: under pandemic guidelines farmworkers are supposed to be put into 15 man "cohort" groups who bunk and work together in an attempt to slow or prevent coronavirus transmissions. L&I says Gebbers management had made no attempt to break employees into cohorts, allowing them to work in "groups significantly larger than allowed" and not adequately spacing their bunking arrangements. In response, L&I issued Order and Notice of Immediate Restraint, requiring the farm to begin following COVID-19 safety guidelines.

But investigators stopped by shortly after issuing the order, only to find that Gebbers Farms had refused to make any changes.

“Gebbers continually failed to comply, even after the first worker died and our repeated presence at the farm, clearly demonstrating a lack of regard for worker safety and health,” said Anne Soiza, L&I assistant director for DOSH.

As a result, the farm has been hit with dozens of fines for violations: 12 for unsafe sleeping arrangements, 12 for unsafe worker transportation and four for not reporting the first COVID-19 fatality. All together, the fines total $2,038,200.

This is not the first time Gebbers had been fined for safety violations. An earlier tip-off from a worker in May ended with L&I issuing a $13,200 fine to Gebbers for not enforcing social distancing requirements.

Gebbers Farm's website does mention cohorting requirements, and other safety measures. L&I says they were aware of pandemic requirements but willfully chose to avoid following safety guidelines, and as a result put all their employees at serious risk.

“This farm clearly understood the steps they were required to take to keep workers safe and prevent the spread of the coronavirus,” Sacks said.

Gebbers now has 15 days to appeal the violations and fines. When L&I fines are paid, the money is given to the workers’ compensation supplemental pension fund, which L&I says will help workers and the families of workers who died on the job.