Temperatures were above 90 degrees at Barnes Farming and Farm Pak on the day in 2023 when farmworker José Arturo González Mendoza died. (carbondale/Adobe Stock)
During National Farm Safety and Health Week, a massively reduced fine for poor conditions that led to a farmworker’s death is leading to questions about worker protections in North Carolina.
José Arturo González Mendoza, 30, a seasonal farmworker, died on the job at the Barnes Farming and Farm Pak in 2023 during extreme heat. The North Carolina Department of Labor found conditions on the farm were harmful to workers, such as the lack of proper breaks from the heat. The Barnes Farming Corporation was initially fined more than $187,000 in 2024. However, the fine was reduced in a settlement this year to $3,750.
Yesenia Cuello, executive director of the grassroots organization NC FIELD, which stands for Focus on Increasing Education, Leadership and Dignity, said the reduced fine was a slap in the face for farmworkers.
“This action sends such a huge message to essential people, that their lives are worthless and that they are disposable,” Cuello contended.
Barnes Farming, which claims to be the world’s largest sweet potato producer, denied wrongdoing in the case and has agreed with the state to update its emergency plans. The farm is owned by the family of Sen. Lisa Stone Barnes, R-Spring Hope. National Farm Safety and Health Week shines light on the hazards of farm work, including excessive heat.
González Mendoza was working on the farm on an H-2A or guest worker visa from Mexico.
Leticia Zavala, coordinator for the farmworker-led nonprofit El Futuro es Nuestro, which organizes H-2A and immigrant farmworkers in North Carolina, said H-2A workers are at the mercy of their employer and can feel compelled to work because of the employer’s ability to revoke their visa status.
Zavala pointed out the decision to reduce the fine against Barnes Farming was made without input from workers on the farm, who have raised concerns about working conditions before.
“We’re just disgusted because we know that the worker participation was not real and we know that workers’ accessibility to the Department of Labor or to that appeal was not possible,” Zavala asserted.
Despite the decision, Zavala stressed her organization will continue to advocate for farmworkers’ rights and there are steps North Carolina can take to protect workers.
“There needs to be laws in place for breaks and access to water, access to medical attention, and there needs to be good, real enforcement on laws,” Zavala outlined. “It’s a big fight.”
Related: Opinion: How North Carolina fails its farmworkers
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