California bill would boost criminal scrutiny of deadly workplace accidents

California lawmakers are weighing a shift that would move the most serious workplace-accident cases closer to the criminal courts. Under AB 2321, a pilot program in Alameda County and Santa Clara County would make the local district attorney responsible for directing investigations when a workplace death or permanent total disability occurs, a change that would matter for any high-traffic operation with freight, ladders, loading docks and forklifts.

The bill, introduced by Assembly Member Liz Ortega on February 19, 2026 and amended on May 18, would run through January 1, 2032 if there is enough funding. It also would require Cal/OSHA to immediately notify the prosecuting authority and share relevant accident information. That is a narrower move than a statewide overhaul, but it signals a more aggressive model for handling severe workplace incidents in two of California’s biggest and busiest counties.

The change would not start from scratch. California already gives Cal/OSHA’s Bureau of Investigations a central role in fatality and serious-injury cases, including preparing and referring matters to prosecutors. District attorneys also already can prosecute employers under Labor Code sections 6423 and 6425 for knowingly, negligently or willfully violating occupational safety and health standards. The proposal would simply put the district attorney in the lead on selected cases in Alameda and Santa Clara counties, turning an existing enforcement system into one with a sharper prosecutorial edge.

For Home Depot store managers, the practical lesson is clear: incident prevention and documentation matter more when a serious accident could draw prosecutor-level scrutiny. Training, housekeeping, barricades and fast escalation of hazards become daily management issues, not just compliance paperwork. If a store floor, back room or loading area feels unsafe, the report has to move quickly and clearly, because in a severe case investigators may look hard at what happened, what was written down and what corrective action followed.

California has already shown how closely it watches Home Depot operations. In 2019, Cal/OSHA said the Court of Appeal upheld citations against Home Depot after a 2014 serious foot injury at the company’s Mira Loma warehouse, where workers were not provided protective footwear in an area where industrial vehicles were operating. Cal/OSHA also said it had opened more than 70 investigations involving home center employers over the previous five years.

The company’s broader record helps explain why this proposal resonates. Good Jobs First’s Violation Tracker lists 368 records tied to the Home Depot parent company and more than $325 million in total penalties since 2000, including $4,078,677 in safety-related penalties. A California lawsuit filed in San Bernardino County in August 2025 after a heavy industrial carpet roll allegedly fell from a forklift, along with a federal case filed in Northern California in April 2026, shows how quickly equipment and loading-area incidents can escalate into major legal exposure. If AB 2321 advances, California stores could face a tougher enforcement climate whenever a serious accident occurs.