NC sweet potato farm faces $187,000 fine after death of worker

A GoFundMe page identified the victim as José Arturo González Mendoza of Guanajuato, Mexico, who died in September after working in temperatures above 90 degrees at Barnes Farming in Nash County.

The Department of Labor said Barnes Farming violated three worker safety rules, including not providing breaks, not having adequate access to water and not having adequate emergency response procedures.

The company has 15 days to appeal. WRAL News reached out for comment but has not heard back.

WFAE Radio reported Mendoza was working at Barnes Farming in Spring Hope as a seasonal employee.

In a statement, Barnes Farming said they're deeply saddened by Mendoza's passing and that the North Carolina Growers Association will pay for his funeral expenses.

The statement says Mendoza was harvesting sweet potatoes "...when he reported to his field supervisor that he was not feeling well and was going to sit on the bus (their transportation to the field) until he felt better. After another supervisor checked on him, it was decided an ambulance should be called."

The cause of his death has yet to be determined.