A Half Moon Bay mushroom farm failed to protect workers living there from a gunman who targeted them in 2023, leading to a deadly shooting, according to two lawsuits filed against the employer.
Prosecutors charged Chunli Zhao, 67, in the deaths of seven people who were fatally shot at California Terra Garden and Concord Farm, two places where Zhao had worked. Prosecutors say the deadly rampage was sparked after Zhao was told by a supervisor that he would have to foot the $100 bill to repair a damaged forklift.
Zhao, who is awaiting trial, is expected to appear in court this month. But two lawsuits filed Wednesday allege that Xianmin Guan, one of California Terra Garden’s owners, failed not only to provide decent housing for his workers, but also to protect them from a co-worker with a violent past.
“There were red flags that showed the shooter had a violent history, including from people he lived with,” said Duffy Magilligan, an attorney representing Pedro Felix Romero Perez, who survived the rampage despite having was shot five times. “There was also a history of violent activity on the farm.”
Magilligan and his law firm also filed a second lawsuit on behalf of the family of Perez’s brother, José Romero Perez, who was killed in the shooting.
Guan and California Terra Garden representatives did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on the lawsuits.
Pedro Felix Romero Perez had lived and worked at California Terra Gaden since 2021, Magilligan said. His older brother, Jose Romero Perez, later emigrated from Oaxaca, Mexico to Half Moon Bay and joined his brother on the farm. The elder Perez left behind his wife and four children in Oaxaca, Magilligan said, for whom he was the primary livelihood.
The two brothers chose to live on the farm, paying rent to the owners, because they did not own a car.
The lawsuits reiterate some of the claims made after the Jan. 23, 2023, shooting that left seven farmworkers dead — that the farmworkers lived in deplorable makeshift homes on one of the farms where they were targeted by an armed man.
“The homes of the brothers and other farm workers had plywood floors, plastic-covered walls, and makeshift wood stoves to heat food,” one of the complaints alleges.
Beyond providing inadequate accommodations, the lawsuit alleges that the owners of California Terra Garden, Inc., namely CTG and Guan, “failed to adequately secure their premises against reasonably foreseeable criminal acts.”
The lawsuit cites another shooting that occurred at the farm seven months before the mass shooting. In the incident on July 1, 2022, a man attempted to break into one of the trailers and threatened to kill the farm worker living there and his family, by firing a shot into the caravan, according to the lawsuit.
The suit also claims the farm’s owners knew of Chunli Zhao’s violent past, including a restraining order filed against him in 2013 by his roommate. The roommate claimed Zhao tried to suffocate him with a pillow during an attack, and days later threatened to use a knife to cut off his head if Zhao couldn’t come back to work.
Even though it was aware of the incidents, Magilligan said, the farm took no steps to protect workers, leading to a mass shooting.
According to the lawsuits, Zhao first shot a farm worker at California Terra Garden and then shot a supervisor.
The 67-year-old then began walking towards the farm camp, where several workers lived.
“Zhao encountered no obstacles or deterrents on his path to the encampment,” the lawsuit states.
Zhao entered the trailer the Perez brothers shared and shot them both, according to the lawsuit. Magilligan said Pedro was still recovering from his injuries and had not been able to return to work.
Prosecutors say Zhao continued his shooting rampage, traveling two miles to Concord Farms and targeting more people against whom he allegedly had long-standing grudges.
After the shooting, the farm was cited by Cal/OSHA for 22 violations, including failing to establish procedures for identifying dangers posed by an active shooter and assessing dangers posed by workers threatening violence physical.
“Every landowner has a duty to ensure the protection of the people on their property, and that applies to landowners like this mushroom farm,” Magilligan said. “Evidence from Cal OSHA’s investigation shows how the farm was doing nothing to protect its workers.”
California Daily Newspapers
