COWICHE, Wash. — The Washington Department of Labor and Industries fined a Yakima area fruit grower and processor $156,000 for violating COVID-19 workplace requirements.
In a press release Wednesday, L&I officials said Evans Fruit Co., Inc. was cited for not following workplace COVID-19 mask and social distancing. This is the third time in recent months the company has been cited for COVID-19 violations, according to L&I. Officials said the company knew employees were required to wear masks and the employer knowingly did not enforce it. Because L&I considers the violations willful, the agency said the penalty is 10 times larger.
L&I officials said they open the latest inspection of Evans Fruit Co. on Oct. 14, 2020 after receiving an anonymous complaint about safety and health issues at the Cowiche worksite. During the inspection, the L&I investigator saw numerous workers in different areas not socially distanced or without physical barriers between them. There were also several workers in the warehouse and office who were not wearing masks, according to L&I.
L&I then issued an Order and Notice of Immediate Restraint requiring immediate COVID-19 safety and health rule compliance. According to the press release, the company came into compliance within a half-hour of receiving the notice.
L&I officials said the company was fined $6,600 after two inspections at the location during the summer of 2020. The company told L&I the masks made fruit packers hot to the point they were passing out, according to a press release.
According to L&I, Evans Fruit Co. has 15 working days to appeal the violations and the $156,000 penalty. The company has appealed the two previous citations.
L&I officials said in 2020, 422 agriculture businesses were inspected and found 517 violations, 204 of which were serious. The agency said violations of COVID-19 protocols made up 60 percent of the violations.
A farming company in Brewster was fined more than $2 million after an investigation into the COVID-19 deaths of two workers in late December of 2020.
L&I said its investigation found "dozens of health and safety violations" committed by Gebbers Farm Operations. The company is facing a fine of $2,038,200, one of the largest workplace safety and health fines in state history, according to L&I.
The agency's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) opened an investigation on July 16 after receiving anonymous calls from Gebbers employees.
The first caller said someone at the camp had died from COVID-19, adding that workers who shared the same cabin with the person were not tested for the virus and were then split up into different cabins with other migrant workers, according to L&I.
The second caller said he feared that hundreds of workers at his camp had COVID-19, including himself, and he worried that he would die. He added that the farm owners did nothing to help the sick.
Investigators confirmed that the death of a 37-year-old temporary worker from Mexico on July 8 was not reported to DOSH as required, L&I said. Businesses must report any workplace-related deaths within eight hours.
A second worker, a 63-year-old man from Jamaica, collapsed and died on July 31.
The cause of death for workers was COVID-19, according to L&I.
