After he reviewed more than 400 candidates, the potential jury pool of a wrongful death lawsuit against Foster Farms was dismissed by a judge Thursday.
The case involves an independent contractor for Foster Farms, not an employee, whose suit claimed that she suffocated in a manure pile while attempting to pull a large Foster Farms delivery truck out of some mud on her property a few years back.
She decided to try to pull the delivery truck out herself instead of waiting for a tow truck, as the Foster Farms driver suggested, said Randy Boyce, senior vice president and general counsel for Foster Farms.
Michael Pagnozzi, the attorney representing the plaintiff, said the woman was using a Massey Ferguson tractor when the accident happened.
When the tractor she was operating flipped over, she was knocked unconscious and died of asphyxiation in a manure pile while pinned to the ground by the seat of the tractor, he said.
People were around who saw the accident, but nobody went over to help, and the only action taken was by someone who dialed 911, Pagnozzi said.
There was a shovel on each side of the tractor that someone could have used to dig the worker out to keep her from suffocating, he added.
Pagnozzi said Foster Farms, the poultry-producing company based in Livingston, which is one of the largest employers in the county, is at fault and needs to be held accountable.
"It'll be a tough case," Pagnozzi said.
The judge dismissed the jury pool because of conduct in the courtroom that was of concern and could have been prejudicial to the case, Boyce said. Details about the conduct weren't immediately available.
The case isn't the largest Foster Farms has dealt with in terms of money, he said. But since it deals with the loss of life, it is important.
"It's big from an emotional and human dimension because it involves the loss of a precious human life," Boyce said. "But it's not a big complex case. It certainly is one of our more tragic cases."
As of now, the case is pending, he said. It won't go to trial until December.
Reporter Mike North can be reached at (209) 385-2453 or mnorth@mercedsun-star.com.
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