VALE — An Eastern Oregon irrigation district is accused of contributing to an employee’s death in a lawsuit filed by the man’s father that seeks $15 million in damages.

The federal complaint alleges Johnny Harrison was employed as a ditch rider, truck driver and laborer for the Vale Irrigation District when he died in a vehicle rollover accident in late October 2021.

According to the lawsuit, the irrigation district “deliberately assigned” the 26-year-old to deliver concrete using a dump truck with “defective brakes and an obsolete suspension system.”

At the time of the incident, Harrison had twice failed to pass a test to obtain a Class A commercial driver’s license and his learner’s permit had expired, the complaint said.

The lawsuit alleges he was required to drive along a “narrow winding dirt road with sharp drop offs on each side” that hadn’t yet dried from recent heavy rains.

Harrison was required to compact the road’s surface by not using the same tracks, which meant avoiding areas “proven solid and safe” and seeking out “soft unstable portions,” the complaint said.

Another employee allegedly became worried why the delivery was taking so long and drove out to find Harrison, who’d died trapped beneath the truck at the bottom of an embankment.

An investigation by Oregon’s Occupation Safety and Health Administration concluded the truck had veered off the road and slid down the shoulder, causing it to roll over, eject and pin Harrison, who’d not been wearing a seat belt.

The state agency cited the irrigation district for two “serious” safety violations after finding it allowed employees to operate vehicles without the proper license and did not reasonably ensure they used seat belt restraints.

The lawsuit claims the irrigation district was aware of at least two earlier accidents that could have killed employees due to defective equipment but took no steps to repair or replace it.

Harrison had been “nervous and apprehensive” about operating the “dangerous truck” under the circumstances but the irrigation district refused his request not to drive on canal roads while they were wet, the complaint said.

The lawsuit also names the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as a defendant because it ultimately controls the irrigation project, which supplies water to about 35,000 acres of farmland, including the canal road where Harrison died.

The federal agency was an “indirect employer” that failed to “exercise oversight” over the irrigation district and ensure it developed an accident prevention program and followed safety laws, the complaint said.

“All defendants knew, before Johnny’s death, that an employee would be killed or gravely injured while operating heavy commercial equipment on soft, wet, dirt canal roads, but deliberately forced them to drive on those roads under dangerous conditions,” the lawsuit said.

Harrison’s father, Shad Harrison, filed the lawsuit as personal representative of his estate, seeking $4 million in compensation for economic damages, including lost earnings, and $11 million in non-economic damages, such as the man’s pain and suffering and his family’s loss of a loved one.

The irrigation district responded that it had “no comment” when asked about the lawsuit’s allegations and its potential financial implications for the organization. A representative of the Bureau of Reclamation hadn’t responded to a request for comment as of press time.