Vernon Food Plant Pleads Guilty, Will Pay $6 Million in 2 Workers’ Deaths

California company receives probation and fine for two workers suffocated in 2020 nitrogen leak

Four years after a preventable poisonous leak killed two workers, California Ranch Foods escapes with token fines and probation, exposing the bipartisan dismantling of workplace safety and the corporate disregard for human life.

Vernon food plant pleads guilty, will pay $6 million in 2 workers’ deaths

A Vernon food processing plant will pay more than $6 million to resolve criminal charges stemming from the deaths of two workers during a 2020 nitrogen gas leak, authorities said Tuesday. According to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, California Ranch Foods — a subsidiary of Gold West Food Group — pleaded guilty to a pair of misdemeanor charges stemming from the December 2020 deaths of Baldemar Lopez, 56, of Los Angeles,…

Vernon food plant pleads guilty after nitrogen leak kills two workers

A food processing plant in Vernon has pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts and will pay more than $6 million after it was criminally charged for a hazardous nitrogen gas leak in 2020 that killed two workers.