A Lake County man was crushed to death by pallets of mushrooms Monday night, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Bruce Edward Stevenson Jr., 45, of Tavares, was moving pallets of mushrooms with a forklift at the Monterey Mushrooms, Inc. plant at 5949 Sadler Road in Zellwood about 10:25 p.m. when the pallets began swaying, sheriff's office spokeswoman Rose Silva said. Stevenson then jumped off the forklift, but the pallets fell on him before he could get away, Silva said. He was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The Sheriff's Office and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating. Jeannie Economos, health and safety coordinator for the Farm Workers Association of Florida, said two Monterey Mushrooms employees told her about the incident Tuesday morning.

The workers told her they saw it happen and were "very concerned," Economos said. OSHA issued Monterey Mushrooms a $6,000 penalty in December for the "serious" violation of exposing employees to a "fall hazard" in the harvesting area. There, employees were observed "working, walking and climbing onto the mushroom bed frames at a height of up to 8 feet," according to an OSHA report.

The violation was a "recognized hazard" that was "likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees," according to OSHA. That inspection came after someone issued a safety complaint regarding a forklift, according to OSHA records. Economos said the association has been receiving complaints about Monterey Mushrooms "for years."

"I'm extremely upset, especially when Monterey Mushrooms is so big and making tons of money and they can't have safe conditions for their workers," Economos said.

On its website, Monterey Mushrooms describes itself as an "international, multi-facility company with 10 mushroom growing farms located throughout North America."

Monterey Mushrooms general manager Brian Hesse said he could not comment due to a "company policy" limiting comments during an "ongoing investigation."