One of the most common situations I see as a personal injury lawyer involves people injured at work because their employer blatantly disregarded OSHA safety regulations. Most everyone knows that workers’ compensation laws provide employers with legal immunity from negligence claims, but common sense suggests that employers remain accountable for reckless or intentional wrongdoing. The law, however, doesn’t always line up with our common sense of ethicals and morals. We’ve been successful in the past holding employers and other companies fully accountable despite the workers’ compensation laws, but unfortunately employers sometimes can get away with manslaughter.
Over at reddit yesterday, a user posted a question under the title My mother was brutally killed at work, is there no chance for justice?
My mother was crushed to death at work, the OSHA report indicates 3 SERIOUS violations on the part of her company and a dozen minor violations. Total Fine: ~$15,000. She was alone when it happened, it wasn’t her duty to be anywhere near the storage area, the guy whose job it was to move the product quit a few days prior and she was essentially told to do his job (without ANY training) or else. Wtf? Its been 7 months now, I’ve spoken to 11 different lawyers with my step father, all of whom said that it wasn’t possible to file a case against them because of labor laws… We just found out today that as of last year the KY legislature passed a bill that stopped any death benefit payments because in a few months my step dad will be 62(age of retirement). My mom was only 50. So not only can we not pursue legal action against the company, but the government death benefit is out the window too.
Am I … insane? Is this some third world Chinese factory? Wtf… Why is this allowable in the US? So this multi-million dollar company pays just 15k in fines and that’s it. No other punitive damages. We cannot pursue any legal action?
It’s a depressingly common situation that we see all the time: some industrial plant or construction site flagrantly violates OSHA safety rules, kills or maims a dedicated employee, and then pays a fine somewhere around the price of a compact car.
Recall the Notre Dame football practice tragedy. Indiana’s Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that Notre Dame had committed multiple safety violations in the training and use of its scissor lifts to videotape football practice, including:
Knowing violation – By directing its untrained student employee videographers to use the scissor lifts during a period of time when the National Weather Service had issued an active Wind Advisory with sustained winds and gusts in excess of the scissor lift’ s manufacturer’s specifications and warnings, the university knowingly exposed its employees to unsafe conditions.
Serious violation – Notre Dame did not properly train the student employees in the operation and use of the scissor lifts used during football practice.
Serious violation – The scissor lift noted in this incident – owned by Notre Dame – had not been given an annual, monthly, or weekly inspection for more than one year.
Serious violation – Notre Dame did not have the scissor lift it owned serviced as required by the preventive maintenance schedule in the operator’s manual.
Serious violation – Notre Dame did not have an operator’s manual kept on the unit it owned in the weather proof box.
Serious violation –The scissor lift noted in this incident – owned by Notre Dame – was missing some of its warning labels and some labels were faded and weathered.
Total fine? $77,500. And that’s in an egregious, high-profile case that killed a 20-year-old. It was one of the highest fines the Indiana OSHA had levied in years.
It’s thus no surprise to me that the company that killed the reddit poster’s mother was fined only $15,000 for three serious violations. As the federal OSHA website explains:
Serious Violation – A violation where there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and that the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard. A mandatory penalty of up to $7,000 for each violation is proposed. A penalty for a serious violation may be adjusted downward, based on the employer’s good faith, history of previous violations, the gravity of the alleged violation, and size of business.
Up to $7,000 for a serious violation that could — and did — kill someone. In this case it seemed the company ordered an untrained employee to handle, alone, some hazardous chemical or equipment, and the penalty is less than the cost of a new Mazda 3.
Which brings us to the core of the redditor’s complaint: that there’s nothing at all they can do to hold the employer accountable.
Continue Reading When Workers’ Compensation Isn’t Enough After A Wrongful Death