Farm’s labor violations caused Madera crash that killed 7 workers last year, feds say
More than one year after a car crash killed seven farmworkers in Madera, the U.S. Department of Labor has sued their Fresno County employer, alleging a company supervisor “organized and coordinated” worker transportation by an unlicensed driver.
Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a recently-confirmed Trump cabinet member who grew up in Hanford, filed the complaint against Selma-based Lion Farms on March 14. The company and its owners stand accused of continuously violating multiple provisions of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA), a federal law that intends to protect these workers through established employment standards.
“Defendants ... deliberately ignored MSPA’s requirements, which serve to protect workers from unsafe and unlicensed transportation to and from the fields,” the complaint says. “These violations ultimately led to a van accident that killed seven of Lion Farms’ field workers.”
Lion Farms’ attorney did not respond to The Bee’s request for comment.
The lawsuit comes after a Department of Labor probe into the company that began shortly after the Feb. 23, 2024, crash in Madera. Early that morning, a van carried eight Lion Farms workers west on Avenue 7 to a company field when it was struck head-on by an eastbound pick-up truck that swerved into the opposite lane, according to the California Highway Patrol. The driver of the pick-up truck and seven of the Lion Farms workers died immediately, and one worker survived with serious injuries.
The deaths of the farmworkers — all from Mexico and living in Kerman — sent shock waves through the Central Valley’s agricultural and immigrant communities, providing another example of the risks farmworkers face on rural roads as they travel to and from job sites.
Ruben Rosalez, western regional administrator for the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, told The Bee last year that deadly crashes involving farmworkers happen every year on the West Coast, and predominantly in the Central Valley.
But the federal complaint against Lion Farms could become an example of the accountability for employers that Rosalez said is still much needed.
“I would say to the employer community, the growers, the farmers, contractors, the foremen that they could be responsible for some of this and they should take it seriously,” he said. “Turning a blind eye and pretending like it’s not happening is not solving the problem.”
Alleged transportation, wage violations
According to the complaint, Lion Farms workers were charged $13 a day for their transportation to and from fields, which a supervisor “organized and coordinated.”
On the morning of the crash, the complaint says, the supervisor knowingly instructed an unlicensed driver to transport himself and seven others to New Stone Ranch, which Lion Farms operates in Madera. The unlicensed driver was one of the seven farmworkers who was killed in the crash.
The Department of Labor’s investigation found that workers were not wearing seat belts and their van did not have the minimum liability insurance coverage.
“Defendants knew or should have known of MSPA’s safe transportation requirements but nevertheless used or caused to be used vehicles to transport, and continue to transport, migrant and seasonal agricultural workers without the required safety provisions under MSPA and its implementing regulations,” the complaint says.
The probe also found that the farm and its owners “violated and continue to violate (federal law) by failing to pay wages owed to migrant and seasonal agricultural workers when due.”
Lion Farms broke several other provisions of the federal migrant worker protection law when it failed “to disclose employee permanent addresses and the employer’s identification number on employee wage statements.”
The complaint accuses the company of committing these violations “willfully.”
The lawsuit seeks to hold Lion Farms liable for all wages owed to its employees and “post-judgment interest.”
This story was originally published March 26, 2025 at 12:16 PM.
