Woman sues after losing both legs in horrific Tri-Cities area farm accident
A Pasco-area dairy worker has filed a lawsuit after her legs were ripped off by an auger in a farm accident nearly three years ago.
Teresa Rodas Aguirre is suing Easy Automation, which made and installed the automated auger system at Ruby Ridge Dairy, which is between Pasco and Eltopia, according to her suit.
The case was originally filed in Franklin County Superior Court by her attorneys at Lopez and Fantel in Seattle and then moved last week to U.S. District Court in Eastern Washington.
On Sept. 21, 2021, Aguirre was working in an area of the dairy that had an auger in the floor to move cattle feed to a conveyor.
She did not realize the auger, shaped like a corkscrew, was running beneath the pile of feed or that a guard protecting the auger had become dislodged, according to a court document.
She was trapped in the equipment but there was no way to shut it down in the area where she was working, according to a court document.
The only way to shut it down was to get to a control center some distance away, the lawsuit said. By the time other employees stopped the auger from churning, both of her legs were entangled, the Tri-City Herald previously reported.
The automated system was unreasonably dangerous and “failed to protect from controllable hazards likely to cause serious injury or death,” the lawsuit said.
Franklin County Fire District 3 Chief Mike Harris told the Herald in 2021 that it was one of the most complex industrial rescues his team had to perform.
A rescue crew arrived to find her sitting at the edge of the auger pit, trapped from the knees down.
The hole was slightly wider than the metal auger so rescuers couldn’t simply reverse the direction of the machine without injuring her more.
Instead, they pulled out the entire piece of equipment from the hole by cutting through the bottom of the auger to remove it while also not igniting the dry, powdery feed.
The rescue was hampered by the remoteness of the farm and their need to work quickly to free her, Harris said. Had the accident not happened about 20 miles north of Pasco, they could have waited for a vacuum truck to help clear the feed.
“We improvised and used manpower and shovels,” Harris said in 2021.
Aguirre was taken by medical helicopter to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland.
“Teresa is a great girl that deserves to have a happy life,” according to a GoFundMe at the time that raised about $26,000 for her.
Her lawsuit is asking for medical costs and expenses, financial loss and general damages. No specific amount was listed in the suit.
In a document filed while the case was in Franklin County Superior Court, the defendant Easy Automation said that it generally denies allegations of negligence.
Washington state Department of Labor and Industries investigated the accident and cited Ruby Ridge Dairy in 2022 for a serious safety violation, which the dairy could appeal. It fined the dairy $1,200.
Its investigation concluded that the dairy did not ensure the pit auger’s guard plates were secure from being displaced by farm equipment.
