Farm founded by Keith Truenow has 2 worker deaths reported over 6-year time span

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. 1/4/23-Rep. Keith L. Truenow, R-Tavares, during the House Agriculture Conservation & Resiliency Subcommittee, Wednesday at the Capitol in Tallahassee. COLIN HACKLEY PHOTO

Correction: This story has been updated to correctly identify Zach McCormick’s relationship to Lake Jem Farms and LJF Hold M LLC.

Two employees died on the job at a business founded by Senate candidate Keith Truenow. One of those died last year, during Truenow’s second term in the House.

That’s according to records from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), showing two farm workers died at Lake Jem Farms over the last decade, both in apparent workplace accidents. Truenow founded the business in 1998.

The company started out growing turfgrass and now also offers sod delivery and installation services. While Truenow no longer owns the business, his LinkedIn profile still lists him as the business development manager there and his financial disclosures show he earned $99,000 from a LJF Hold M, a company with the same address as Lake Jem Farms.

Truenow provided Florida Politics a statement through the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, which has endorsed his candidacy. He said the deaths were unrelated, and suggested the reports were gaining attention now because of political opposition.

“This is incredibly dangerous work and the safety of our employees is our top priority,” Truenow said. “Conflating these tragic incidents and their outcomes is a gross act of desperation by a failing campaign, and is, quite frankly, beneath the journalistic standards set by Florida Politics.”

The Representative is one of three Republicans running in Senate District 13. He faces CJ Blancett and Bowen Kou in an Aug. 20 Republican Primary. The winner will face Democrat Stephanie Dukes in the November General Election.

The most recent death of the two Lake Jem Farms worker deaths occurred on June 7, 2023, at a company facility in Apopka, the Zoysia field. According to OSHA inspection records, an employee died on the job after being dragged by a tractor.

An official OSHA investigation summary found the accident occurred at a Lust Road facility in Apopka. A report said an employee had been standing on top of a frame acting as a spotter as another worker guided a forklift operator to load a pallet of sod. But then the employee moved between two trailers. The forklift operator, unaware of that employee’s location, told a tractor driver to go ahead.

“As the tractor driver drove forward, it is believed that Employee #1 slipped or fell backwards to the middle tandem tires, where he got caught-in and dragged for approximately 125 feet,” the report reads. “Employee #1 was killed.”

An Orange County Sheriff’s Office report said a homicide detective responded to the scene, but ultimately determined the death was accidental. Detective Corporal Alexander Richards wrote that the deceased employee “was located after the first section of the trailer entangled in between the wheels, the axle, and ground.”

“He had significant injuries consistent with an accident,” the report continues. “Deputies located apparent drag marks for a considerable distance. Within this area clothing, the decedent’s hand, and jewelry was located.”

The victim was identified in reports only as a 46-year-old male farm worker, but the Sheriff’s Office report identifies the man as Federico Viverosdominguez. (The Sheriff’s report lists him as a 47-year-old Hispanic man based on his date of birth.)

Deputies took statements from both other employees at the scene. One, Emmanuel Garcia, said workers would regularly ride in between the tractors and custom trailers. Karla Estrada, the driver and Garcia’s sister, said she only learned of an issue when Garcia shouted at her to stop driving. Garcia told authorities he did so after hearing Viverosdominguez screaming.

Richards wrote that he made contact with the victim’s relatives at the scene of the investigation. He specifically said he spoke to relative Patricia Cisneros, who said she would notify the employee’s next of kin, a wife in Mexico.

The District 9 Medical Examiner’s Office ultimately determined the cause of death to be from multiple traumatic injuries.

The records show that the OSHA investigation remains open, while noting that investigators already assessed two fines.

The first citation was for a “serious” violation. OSHA initially issued a fine of $15,625, but Lake Jem Farms in December entered into informal settlement and the “current” fine was listed on reports as $9,375. The citation said the business violated a federal regulation prohibiting farm workers from riding field equipment unless they are operating the machinery or instructing someone how to do so.

The business additionally incurred a second citation when OSHA inspectors at the time of the incident determined a Brouwer sod harvester did not have a proper head guard, exposing employers to a hazard. Initially, OSHA assessed a $10,938 fine, but after the settlement, the fine was listed as $6,563.

Fewer than six years prior to this incident, another accident at Lake Jem Farms also resulted in a farm worker’s death, this time at a company property in Zellwood.

According to an OSHA investigation summary, an employee who had been preparing to spread fertilizer was found unresponsive on Aug. 18, 2017. OSHA determined the worker had been killed by blunt force trauma, and had a skull fracture and a broken femur. Reports identify the victim as a 56-year-old male heavy equipment operator.

In this incident, Lake Jem Farms incurred a smaller fine. Initially, OSHA issued a citation for $6,467, but the company in February 2018 settled for $3,880.

The employee killed in the 2017 incident was not identified by OSHA in its investigation summary. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office found no record of a criminal death investigation. A request for information has been made to Orange County Fire Rescue as well.

Reports make no indication that Truenow was present for either deadly incident. Truenow listed Lake Jem Farms among assets he still owned until 2022, but not in 2023, when the most recent death occurred.

Calls were placed to Lake Jems Farms’ main number but that connects to a retail location and a man answering the phone there had no information on the deaths. Florida Politics also placed calls to Zach McCormick, a Tavares business listed in state records as the registered agent for Lake Jem Farms and LJF Hold M LLC.