Abstract: At approximately 11:00 a.m. on December 18, 2009, Employee #1 and other coworkers of Bennett Landscape were assigned to cut down six dead pine trees on the slope of a horse trail located in Rolling Hills, CA. The work crew had downed two trees, when they begun cutting down the third tree. To take down the third tree, Employee #1 climbed the tree and removed branches on the way up to a height of approximately 20 ft. At 20 ft, Employee #1 tied off and cut the top of the tree. As he topped the dead pine tree, the cut off section of the tree free fell into an adjacent dead pine tree. The branches caught the adjacent dead pine tree's branches and caused the adjacent tree to be pulled out of the ground by the additional weight of the cut tree top. The adjacent tree fell in the direction of the pine tree, where Employee #1 occupied and struck its base with enough force to crack the base of his tree. Both the tree and Employee #1 fell to the ground. Employee #1 struck the trunk of a tree and sustained blunt force trauma to his face. He died from the injuries.