Grower settles with limbless child

Ag-Mart will pay a field worker's family for the lifelong care of a child with birth defects

Tomato grower Ag-Mart will pay for the lifelong care of a field worker's child who was born with no arms and legs, lawyers said Monday.

The Florida company agreed late Friday to settle a case brought by the parents of Carlos Herrera Candelario, who was born in 2004. The parents claimed that his mother's frequent exposure to pesticides in Ag-Mart's fields during pregnancy, both in North Carolina and in Florida, caused the boy's deformity.

Both sides agreed not to disclose the amount of the settlement, but Miami lawyer Seth Miles, who worked on behalf of Carlos, said the money will cover any medical needs and provide the boy, now 3, with a permanent income. Carlos lives with his parents in south Florida.

"He should be well taken care of for life," Miles said. "What happened in those fields was nothing short of tragic."

Ag-Mart spokesman Leo Bottary said he could not comment on the settlement. The agreement was not an admission of guilt and must still be approved by a judge.

Carlos was one of three deformed children born to Ag-Mart workers between December 2004 and February 2005. The births set off investigations of Ag-Mart's pesticide use in North Carolina, Florida and New Jersey -- all the states where it grows its Santa Sweets and Ugly Ripe brand tomatoes.

North Carolina agriculture officials are still embroiled in a legal fight with Ag-Mart. They say they found evidence that Ag-Mart employees were frequently forced to work in fields freshly sprayed with dangerous pesticides.

Ag-Mart denies the accusations, saying the charges against it are the result of a misreading of its records. They say they had practices in place to ensure that workers were not exposed.

Company officials also claimed in the past that Ag-Mart was not responsible for birth defects among its workers and suggested that the women might have taken the drug thalidomide, which causes severe birth defects.

After the three children were born, the company said it stopped using five pesticides that are linked to birth defects.

Carlos' parents, Francisca Herrera and Abraham Candelario, were the only workers to sue Ag-Mart. They filed a lawsuit in early 2006, claiming that during her pregnancy, Francisca Herrera was frequently doused with pesticides while harvesting tomatoes.

Their lawyers deposed several former workers who said that illegal pesticide exposure was a common occurrence at Ag-Mart's farms.

Miles, the child's attorney, said Ag-Mart officials agreed to settle after hearing evidence at a mediation hearing last week.

He said Carlos has few other health problems aside from his missing limbs and is expected to have a normal life span. At 3, he said, Carlos is a happy child who can speak and learn just like other children his age.

However, there is limited hope that he will ever be mobile. Miles said Carlos has a nub on one shoulder that might eventually be large enough to anchor a prosthetic limb. He has nowhere to anchor prosthetic legs.

Miles said the boys' parents, who care for him themselves, are happy with the settlement.

"It was a hard fight," Miles said of the lawsuit. "But it was a fight with a good outcome for the family."