California prosecutors charged Bumble Bee Foods LLC and two employees Monday with willfully violating worker safety rules in relation to the 2012 death of an employee who was cooked to death after being trapped in an industrial oven.
"We take worker safety very seriously," said Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey. "For the past year, prosecutors and investigators from my office have begun rolling out to major industrial incidents involving serious worker injuries and death. Our goal is to enhance the criminal prosecution of workplace safety violations. Although the Bumble Bee investigation began in 2012, this case represents our commitment to protecting workers from illegal – and, potentially, deadly – on-the-job practices."