Employer pleads guilty in deadly nitrogen leak
- August 29, 2025
- Posted by: Web workers
- Category: Workers Comp
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health announced that a food processing plant pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts related to the deaths of two workers.
Baldemar Gonsales and Maria Osyguss suffocated in December 2020 when a gas system malfunctioned and released nitrogen at a California Ranch Foods facility in Vernon, California.
Cal/OSHA said its investigation found critical failures in safety procedures and training related to the pressurized gas system.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed criminal charges against the company, a subsidiary of Golden West Food Group, last month. California law recognizes that corporations, as legal entities, can be held accountable for criminal acts.
Under terms of the plea agreement announced Tuesday, California Ranch Foods must make $1.6 million in safety improvements at its plant, pay a $1 million criminal fine and donate $4 million to local food banks. The company must also pay $50,000 to the Cal/OSHA Bureau of Investigations to support enforcement efforts.
The company already reached a $35 million civil settlement with the victim’s families.
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