http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/413674.html

Published: Mar 03, 2006 12:30 AM
Modified: Mar 03, 2006 03:32 AM

Ex-workers sue grower over baby's birth defects

The parents of a boy born with no arms and legs filed suit this week against the company they say caused his birth defects.

Francisca Herrera and Abraham Candelario, both farmworkers who live in Florida, are asking their former employer, Ag-Mart Produce, to pay for medical costs and damages to their son, Carlos Herrera-Candelario.

Both parents worked in Ag-Mart's fields in North Carolina and Florida before and during the mother's pregnancy. Carlos, known by the nickname "Carlitos," was born Dec. 17, 2004, without limbs and with spinal and lung deformities, the lawsuit says.

Herrera's attorney, Andrew Yaffa of Florida, said he has three other clients, all former Ag-Mart employees, who had children with severe birth defects. One baby had an underdeveloped jaw, one had no visible sex organs and one was missing part of its brain. Two of the children died after birth.

Nearly every time he goes out to interview a worker, Yaffa said, "I get pulled into a situation where I hear, 'I know somebody who has another.' I think we're just scratching the surface."

The Florida-based Ag-Mart grows about 1,100 acres of grape tomatoes in Eastern North Carolina, which it sells under the brand name "Santa Sweets."

The company points to a Florida county's study that found no definitive links between Carlitos' deformities and the mother's pesticide exposure. North Carolina health officials are studying whether pesticides caused Carlitos' problems.

"We are deeply saddened by what Carlitos and his family have endured over the past year," said Don Long, the company president, on Thursday in a prepared statement. "It's a heartbreaking experience for any family. ... We continue to cooperate with any agency still investigating this issue."

Since Carlitos' birth, Ag-Mart has stopped using five chemicals linked to birth defects.

The boy's parents claim in the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Florida Circuit Court, that they were sprayed with toxic pesticides while working in Ag-Mart's fields. They also claim that they were forced to work in freshly sprayed fields that weren't safe to re-enter for several days. And they say that the company did not properly train employees who used pesticides.

Carlitos' parents are illegal immigrants from Mexico. They live in Florida, and the Shriners Hospital for Children in Tampa is helping care for the boy.

The agriculture departments in North Carolina and Florida have charged Ag-Mart with hundreds of violations of pesticide laws designed to protect workers from exposure.

North Carolina officials have fined the company $184,500 for 369 violations -- the biggest pesticide case in state history. The company is negotiating payment.

Florida agriculture officials said this week that they would no longer negotiate with the company after months of trying to agree on a settlement. They said the company's last offer -- to pay $25,000 of an $111,200 fine -- was unacceptable. The case will go to an administrative hearing.

Staff writer Kristin Collins can be reached at 829-4881 or kcollins@newsobserver.com.