Director’s Decision on an Appeal of a County Agricultural Commissioner Decision (Docket Number 134)

Enclosed is Administrative Docket Number 134, which contains the Director’s Decision on an Appeal of an Agricultural Civil Penalty, levied against Continental Landscape, Inc, by the Amador County Agricultural Commissioner (CAC) for violations of Title 3, California Code of regulations sections 6738(b)(1)(C), 6738(c)(1)(C) and 6678.

In the above case, the CAC’s Decision was affirmed in part and reversed in part. It appeared that the Hearing Officer held Continental Landscape, Inc., to a strict liability standard by holding them automatically liable for its employees’ personal protection equipment (PPE) violations under 3CCR sections 6738(b)(1)(C) and (c)(1)(C). Because the CAC must prove each element of the violation, the CAC should have shown how the employer failed to fulfill one or more of its responsibilities listed in 3CCR section 6702 and how this failure lead to violations of 3CCR sections 6738(b)(1)(C) and (c)(1)(C).

Please make this information available to your staff so they can use it as a training tool in preparing cases.

If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Louis Watson, Senior Special Investigator, at (916) 445-3894, or the Enforcement Branch Liaison assigned to your county.

Sincerely,