On October 29, 2008, William L. Kay, 81 years of age, was an employee of Bob Orton Trucking of Panguitch, and on the day in question, was delivering a load of pipes to a job site at Kennecott Utah Copper Corp. Another tailings pond contractor, Ames Construction, was involved in helping to unload the pipes. Although it is somewhat unclear, it appears that straps that held the pipes were unloosed before a forklift could be positioned in place to catch them. A 3,000 pound pipe then fell off the truck an on to Mr. Kay, crushing him to death. Now the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration is blaming both Bob Orton Trucking and Ames Construction for this fatal accident, saying that they violated policies put in place for safe unloading. Both of these companies were cited by the MSHA.
Now normally if an employee is injured when they are on the clock and another employee or the employee themselves is to blame, then it will be a workers compensation case. In these situations, you cannot sue the employer. However, in Utah if a “third-party” can be blamed for the work place accident, then the worker, or the worker’s family in this case, can bring a civil action against the at-fault person or company. In Utah a “wrongful death heir” is either the parents, the spouse, or children of the injured or killed worker. Thus, the door is now opened for Mr. Kay’s family members to bring a claim against Ames Construction. (They incidently could have brought a claim before, but an administrative determination of fault should be very useful in helping the family establish their claim.) I would recommend that the family contact a Utah personal injury attorney that has experience in handling wrongful death cases to help.
Published by: Ron Kramer
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