They are forced to work under deplorable working conditions. I tell people to wash their fruit and vegetables thoroughly. They ask why, and I ask them when they drive by a field where these workers are slaving, do they see any porta-potties, or hand washing facilities anywhere in sight????

The owners of two mushroom farms in northern California where a disgruntled employee shot and killed seven people last year will pay a total of more than $450,000 in back wages and damages
........https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/22/half-moon-bay-mass-shooting-?CMP=share_btn_url





Farm owners in California mass shooting to pay workers $450,000

Workplace killings in 2023 revealed hazardous working conditions of migrant farmworkers in Half Moon Bay
Maya Yang Wed 22 May 2024 18.32 EDT

The owners of two mushroom farms in northern California where a disgruntled employee shot and killed seven people last year will pay a total of more than $450,000 in back wages and damages to 62 employees.

In an announcement released on Monday following an extensive investigation, the US labor department said that the payment is an element of administrative settlements reached by the department’s wage and hour division with California Terra Garden and Concord Farms.

The government’s announcement comes after the incident in which the accused gunman, 67-year old Chunli Zhao, opened fire on two farms in Half Moon Bay, a small community approximately 30 miles south of San Francisco, on 23 January 2023, killing seven workers and injuring another.

Speaking to investigators, Zhao said that prior to the shooting, he had had an argument with a supervisor who insisted he pay $100 in repairs following a forklift incident that Zhao said was not his fault. According to Zhao, a co-worker intentionally hit the forklift with a bulldozer, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Zhao, a Chinese citizen, has pleaded not guilty to multiple murder charges.

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