Attorney Michael Rehm — (800) 978-0754

Attorney Michael Rehm represents victims of farm and agricultural equipment accidents throughout Fresno County. Fresno County is the most productive agricultural county in the United States, generating more farm output than 23 states. That scale of operation means a correspondingly large presence of tractors, harvesters, irrigation equipment, forklifts, packing equipment, and pesticide-application machinery operating daily in the county's fields, orchards, packing houses, and storage facilities. Agricultural equipment accidents produce catastrophic injuries — crush injuries, amputations, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and death — and the legal claims that arise from them involve multiple potential defendants and overlapping state and federal regulatory frameworks.

Types of Agricultural Equipment Accidents in Fresno County

Tractor rollovers are among the most common fatal agricultural accidents in California. A tractor without a functioning rollover protection structure (ROPS) exposes the operator to direct crush injury from the falling machine. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) requires ROPS on agricultural tractors used in the course of employment under California Code of Regulations, title 8, section 3441. ROPS requirements have existed for decades; a tractor lacking compliant rollover protection in the field is a per se safety violation when an employer provides it to a worker.

Power take-off (PTO) entanglements occur when loose clothing, hair, or body parts contact unguarded rotating PTO shafts connecting a tractor to an implement. The results are catastrophic: degloving injuries, amputations, and death. Cal/OSHA requires guarding of PTO equipment under title 8 regulations governing agricultural machinery guarding.

Harvester and picker accidents in orchards and vineyards involve workers entering the operating radius of automated harvesting equipment, falling from ladder attachments, and being struck by moving components. Conveyor and sorting line injuries in packing houses produce severe hand and arm injuries from nip points and ingoing nip hazards. Forklift accidents in storage facilities — an elevated-loads category where Fresno County's large cold storage and warehouse operations create significant exposure — produce crush injuries and fatalities.

Third-Party Tort Claims and Workers' Compensation

Most farmworkers injured on the job in California have workers' compensation claims. But workers' compensation is not the only recovery available. California Labor Code section 3852 expressly preserves an injured worker's right to bring a civil tort claim against any third party whose negligence contributed to the injury, regardless of whether workers' compensation is also paid. The workers' compensation carrier has a lien on any third-party recovery, but the injured worker can recover damages — including non-economic damages for pain and suffering — from the negligent third party that workers' compensation does not cover.

In an agricultural equipment accident, potential third-party defendants include the equipment manufacturer (under strict products liability for design defects, manufacturing defects, or failure to warn), a contractor or labor broker who provided the worker to the site, a property owner who maintained a dangerous condition separate from the employer's operations, and a custom harvesting or equipment operator hired to perform work on the property.

Products Liability — Defective Agricultural Equipment

California's strict products liability doctrine, established in Greenman v. Yuba Power Products (1963) 59 Cal.2d 57, holds a manufacturer strictly liable for injuries caused by a product placed into the stream of commerce in a defective condition. A tractor manufacturer who designs a machine without an adequate ROPS attachment system, a harvester manufacturer who fails to guard a PTO shaft that workers routinely contact, or an equipment supplier who sells a machine without adequate warnings about known entanglement hazards may be strictly liable for resulting injuries without requiring proof of specific negligence in the design or manufacturing process.

Three categories of defect apply: design defect — the product is inherently dangerous because of its design; manufacturing defect — an individual unit departed from the intended design; and failure to warn — the manufacturer failed to provide adequate warnings about known risks. In agricultural equipment cases, design defect and failure to warn theories are most common. The risk-benefit test and the consumer expectations test are both available in California to establish design defect. Barker v. Lull Engineering Co. (1978) 20 Cal.3d 413.

Negligence — Employer and Property Owner Liability

Where the injured worker's employer is not the property owner, the landowner may face direct third-party liability for maintaining a dangerous condition. Under Civil Code section 1714(a), every person is responsible for injury occasioned to another by want of ordinary care or skill in the management of property. The full text of Civil Code section 1714 is at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. A grower who hires a labor contractor and provides dangerous equipment to the contractor's workers may bear direct liability for the dangerous condition of that equipment.

Damages

Recoverable damages under Civil Code section 3333 include medical expenses incurred and future care costs, lost wages and earning capacity, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life. Workers in Fresno County's agricultural economy are frequently the primary wage earners for their families, and the economic impact of a disabling injury extends well beyond the immediate medical costs. For fatalities, wrongful death and survival claims are available under Code of Civil Procedure sections 377.60 and 377.30.

Filing a Lawsuit in Fresno County Superior Court

Agricultural equipment accident lawsuits arising in Fresno County are filed in the Fresno County Superior Court, B.F. Sisk Courthouse, 1130 O Street, Fresno, CA 93721. Electronic filing is mandatory for represented parties under Code of Civil Procedure section 1010.6(g).

Statute of Limitations

The statute of limitations for personal injury claims is two years from the date of injury under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. Missing this deadline can potentially bar a lawsuit. Tolling doctrines may apply. Contact Attorney Michael Rehm to assess the specific timeline in your case.

Related Pages

• Fresno Personal Injury Attorney
• Fresno Pesticide Injury Attorney
• Fresno Burn Injury Attorney
• Fresno Wrongful Death Attorney
• Fresno Brain Injury Attorney

Attorney Michael Rehm handles agricultural equipment accident cases throughout Fresno County on a contingency fee basis. No fee without a recovery. Call (800) 978-0754 for a free consultation.

The information on this page is general legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case turns on its own facts. The law can change — statutes are amended, cases are decided, and regulations are revised; nothing on this page should be relied upon as a statement of current law without verification. Deadlines and legal bars discussed on this page are general guides — whether a particular deadline applies, has run, or is subject to tolling, and whether a particular doctrine bars or limits recovery in your case, requires individual analysis. Contact Attorney Michael Rehm to discuss the specific facts of your situation.