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Company Dares Farmer To Take Them To Court Over The Damages They Caused, Regrets It Deeply
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Company Dares Farmer To Take Them To Court Over The Damages They Caused, Regrets It Deeply

Company Dares Farmer To Take Them To Court Over The Damages They Caused, Regrets It DeeplyFarmer Sues Company That Caused Fire On His Property, Gets 17 Times More Than He Asked ForGuys Asks For $60k To Compensate Broken Fence, Gets Over A Million After TrialFarmer Asks For $60k To Replace Burned Down Fence, Gets Over A Million When Company Refuses“The Gloves Were Off”: Company Won’t Pay $60K Compensation, Ends Up Losing Over A MillionCompany Refuse To Pay For Damages They Caused, End Up Paying Millions In TrialFarmer Doesn’t Get $60K In Compensation From Company, Sues Them For A Million InsteadFarmer Loses Fence And Crops, Electric Company Regrets Refusing Compensation“Compensate Me 100 Times”: Avocado Farmer's Legal Battle Ends In $1M VictoryArrogant Company Dares Farmer To Take Them To Court Over Fire Damages, Ends Up Paying Over $1M
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Often companies operate under a false sense of security, that most people can’t be bothered to go to court over any damages they might have inflicted. Indeed, this hubris can go so far that they will explicitly tell folks to sue them if they have a problem, not realizing that there are people out there who will take them at their word.

A netizen shared a story of a farmer who had a lot of their crops damaged in a fire caused by an electrical company. When he asked for compensation for damage to his fence, they said no. So he lawyered up and took them to court for quite a bit more. We reached out to the person who shared the story via private message and will update the article when they get back to us.

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    Normally, if your business damages someone else’s property, you need to pay for it

    Image credits: puhimec / envato (not the actual photo)

    But one farmer had to go to court after an electrical company started a fire

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    Image credits: AnnaStills / envato (not the actual photo)

    The person shared a few updates later

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    Image source: SomeoneYouDontKnow70

    California is one of the nation’s leading producers of food

    Image credits: Monika Baumgartner / pexels (not the actual photo)

    While most people think of California as a tech and entertainment hub, the truth is that roughly half of the fruits and vegetables grown in the US come from it. This is even more pronounced when it comes to the production of almonds, pistachios, pomegranates, and walnuts, roughly 99% of which come directly from California.

    It’s also a national leader in lima beans, lemons, kumquats, raspberries, strawberries, and spinach, so it’s not surprising that you basically can’t get a good smoothie bowl without California. This is all to say that the state takes its agriculture very, very seriously. Incidentally, it’s not just vegan products, California also produces about a fifth of the milk in the US, as well as being the nation’s second largest cheesemaker.

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    How does California do it? Well, climate is a big part, it’s a famously sunny state, which is good for more than nice beach holidays. Things grow well in California and the state has a large population. On the surface, this might seem like a bad thing, as urban development would reduce the amount of farmland around. Conversely, this also means a large amount of people nearby to purchase your products and work in your farms.

    However, as this story mentions, California has a number of significant pro-agriculture laws. Given the sheer number of people in the state as well as the desirability of living there, one can easily imagine developers buying up every piece of land they can find and turning it into houses and apartments.

    The state works hard to keep land available for agriculture

    Image credits: cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo)

    In 1965, the state passed the Williamson Act which, in short, allowed local governments to enter into contracts with landowners. These contracts would limit people’s ability to build homes on this land, although the act did not outright ban construction. Instead, homes built on this land have to be “consistent with agricultural use,” which limits most developers’ interest in the land. While some might want to sell their property at a profit, given the value of land there, entering into a contract like this would keep its value stable, which would also mean that property taxes remain very manageable.

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    Currently, over sixteen million acres of farmland in California are protected under this act. That is about 64749 square kilometers, which, incidentally, is about the same size as Lithuania (65,286 square kilometers.) This is roughly half of all agricultural land in the state. The Williamson Act, combined with other protections all are pretty clear indications that companies in California should think twice before messing with farmers.

    This is the real appeal of this story, as the electrical company no doubt was used to an “average” person not wanting to deal with the costs of a lawsuit. While this is technically correct, it’s important to remember that an unwillingness to go to court doesn’t mean that the victim of this company is by any means in the wrong. The farmer’s “malicious compliance” is hardly malicious, as they have every right to pursue a case. Indeed, the electrical companies legal team should have realized the risks involved with a fire ruining produce, as California laws are pretty aggressive about this sort of thing.

    Some readers wanted more details

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    But most thought it was an excellent bit of malicious compliance

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    Justin Sandberg

    Justin Sandberg

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

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    I am a writer at Bored Panda. Despite being born in the US, I ended up spending most of my life in Europe, from Latvia, Austria, and Georgia to finally settling in Lithuania. At Bored Panda, you’ll find me covering topics ranging from the cat meme of the day to red flags in the workplace and really anything else. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, beating other people at board games, cooking, good books, and bad films.

    Read less »
    Justin Sandberg

    Justin Sandberg

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    I am a writer at Bored Panda. Despite being born in the US, I ended up spending most of my life in Europe, from Latvia, Austria, and Georgia to finally settling in Lithuania. At Bored Panda, you’ll find me covering topics ranging from the cat meme of the day to red flags in the workplace and really anything else. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, beating other people at board games, cooking, good books, and bad films.

    Kotryna Br

    Kotryna Br

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    Kotryna is a Photo Editor at Bored Panda with a BA in Graphic Design. Before Bored Panda, she worked as a freelance graphic designer and illiustrator. When not editing, she enjoys working with clay, drawing, playing board games and drinking good tea.

    Read less »

    Kotryna Br

    Kotryna Br

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    Kotryna is a Photo Editor at Bored Panda with a BA in Graphic Design. Before Bored Panda, she worked as a freelance graphic designer and illiustrator. When not editing, she enjoys working with clay, drawing, playing board games and drinking good tea.

    What do you think ?
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    JayWantsACat
    Community Member
    5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    As often as it still happens, California takes anything related to our agriculture being messed with and potential wildfires pretty seriously. Obviously it's not the most stringent but there's a reason state border require you to throw any fruit (and veggies, I think) when entering the state. Not only is agriculture a major industry for the states, we're also the biggest producer in the US. Which some people find weird considering we're mostly known for Hollywood, the beaches, and the cities. But you go up north or East and it's woods and farms and MAGA-land.

    Richard Wareham
    Community Member
    5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Would have made far more sense to have had the facts and figures correct in the first place.

    Tucker Cahooter
    Community Member
    5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Indeed. It was not as though OP was stopped on the street and asked about it and had to think on their feet as to what happened.

    Load More Replies...
    Spittnimage
    Community Member
    5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    in the update OP said BIL paid off the mortgage, fixed what the fire destroyed, and then paid off the motgage (again).

    nixoloco
    Community Member
    5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I think he differentiated between a mortgage on the ranch(land) and a house, which could be separate properties.

    Load More Replies...
    JayWantsACat
    Community Member
    5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    As often as it still happens, California takes anything related to our agriculture being messed with and potential wildfires pretty seriously. Obviously it's not the most stringent but there's a reason state border require you to throw any fruit (and veggies, I think) when entering the state. Not only is agriculture a major industry for the states, we're also the biggest producer in the US. Which some people find weird considering we're mostly known for Hollywood, the beaches, and the cities. But you go up north or East and it's woods and farms and MAGA-land.

    Richard Wareham
    Community Member
    5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Would have made far more sense to have had the facts and figures correct in the first place.

    Tucker Cahooter
    Community Member
    5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Indeed. It was not as though OP was stopped on the street and asked about it and had to think on their feet as to what happened.

    Load More Replies...
    Spittnimage
    Community Member
    5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    in the update OP said BIL paid off the mortgage, fixed what the fire destroyed, and then paid off the motgage (again).

    nixoloco
    Community Member
    5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I think he differentiated between a mortgage on the ranch(land) and a house, which could be separate properties.

    Load More Replies...
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