Gebbers Farms Fined Pt 1

Gebbers Farms Fined Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. The Washington Department of Labor and Industries has fined Gebbers Farms $2-million for coronavirus violations after they say ‘Gebbers made it clear they had no intention of following the rules,’ something a Gebbers spokesman says is simply untrue.

12th District Representative Keith Goehner says he doesn’t know why Gebbers, of all employers, is being targeted …

GOEHNER … “I honestly don’t know exactly what the reasoning would be. As a grower, your success is predicated on caring for your workforce, making sure that they’re safe and healthy and I don’t know of any growers that would put, you know, a worker at risk because it directly reflects on you as an individual and on your business as a whole.”

Especially, Goehner says, given that this year has been unlike any other …

GOEHNER … “This year was an unprecedented approach towards regulating and when we started in March, and when I left Olympia in March, we had no idea what was going to be the severity of it, you know, the kind of outcomes.”

And when the new rules were handed down, Goehner says most employers already had their season planned out …

GOEHNER … “I do know that Gebber’s Farms were very committed to meeting the guidelines and the regulations that were put in place, but, as I mentioned, these were emergency rules that were to be enacted immediately and it was a real challenge for them at the outset, as it was for all the other growers.”

Tune in tomorrow for more on the fines facing Gebbers Farms.

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