$17.5K fine after 'Yolo Six' farmworkers said they were fired during heat wave

DIXON, Calif. - The state agency vested with the power of workplace safety cited Ruiz Farm Labor in Dixon, Calif., for three serious-category violations of California’s heat illness prevention standard. 

On Monday, Cal-OSHA said the agency fined the farm $17,550. 

Ruiz Farm is appealing the citations, Cal-OSHA said. 

Cal-OSHA said investigators began looking into allegations of heat-violations after a group of six farmworkers known as the Yolo Six, said they were fired after they left their work shifts early on June 13 during a heat wave.

Cal-OSHA found the employer did not implement high heat or emergency response procedures, provide effective heat illness prevention training for supervisors and non-supervisory employees or follow its own written heat illness prevention plan for acclimatizing employees during the first 14 days of working in direct sun and in temperatures that reached over 95 degrees.

"Every worker should be treated with dignity and respect, and no one should face retaliation for protecting their health," Cal-OSHA Chief Debra Lee said in a statement. "Employees deserve a safe work environment, especially in extreme conditions, and businesses that fail to follow the rules will be held accountable."

The Labor Commissioner’s Office is investigating the alleged retaliatory action, and the Agricultural Labor Relations Board is investigating unfair labor practice claims that agricultural workers filed against Cooley Enterprises, Inc., the company that hired Ruiz Farm Labor Contractor.

After the farmworkers said they were fired, KCRA 3 reached out to Conrado Ruiz, the owner of Ruiz Farm Labor, multiple times. Over a phone call, Ruiz confirmed the coworkers had been laid off but didn't explain why.

KTVU tried to reach the farm on Monday, but no one answered and a Google search said Ruiz Farm Labor was "permanently closed."