One of the first actions of the new, Valley-born secretary of labor appointed by President Trump last week is suing a local farm company following the death of several farm workers a year ago.

According to a federal lawsuit filed on March 13, the U.S. Department of Labor is accusing Lion Farms of Selma of deliberately ignoring Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) requirements, which are meant to protect workers from unsafe and unlicensed transportation to and from the fields.

The suit says those violations contributed to a van accident that killed seven Lion Farms field workers on Feb. 23, 2024, on a rural Madera County road. The workers all lived in Kerman.

The accident occurred when a pickup truck crashed head-on into the van carrying eight farmworkers heading west on Avenue 7 near Road 22.

The lawsuit was filed by Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a Hanford native appointed by President Trump and sworn in on March 10.

The lawsuit seeks to keep Lion Raisins “from continuing to put at risk the lives of vulnerable agricultural workers, and others who share the road with the vehicles transporting these workers.”

Lion Farms grows about 871 acres of grapes in Fresno and Madera counties, according to the lawsuit. Their raisins are sold under the “Lion Raisins” label. The company is owned and managed by Bruce Lion and Alfred Lion of Fresno.

The lawsuit alleges that a Lion Farms supervisor instructed another worker to transport workers from Kerman to New Stone Ranch in Madera knowing the driver was unlicensed.

According to the California Highway Patrol, six out of the eight agricultural workers were not wearing seat belts during the accident. Two were fully or partially ejected from the vehicle.

Shortly after the accident, the wage and hour division of the Department of Labor began investigating possible violations of the safe transportation provisions for workers under the MSPA.

The investigation found wage, transportation and disclosure violations, according to the suit.

Calls to Lion Farms’ attorney were not returned by Wednesday afternoon.

A longer version of this story was published in the March 21 print edition of The Business Journal. Visit our subscription page.