A workplace fatality can wreak havoc in the life of a victim’s family. Not only does that family suffer a loss of income but they must also encounter various other financial and emotional challenges in their everyday lives, which can sometimes continue for a very long time. Fortunately, Ohio law allows the family members of the victim to claim wrongful death damages for fatal workplace accidents.
One such incident of a wrongful death claim was recently reported in several Ohio news outlets. According to those reports, the family members of a 25-year-old construction worker, who died in a trench collapse at a home construction site in Ohio in December 2017, have filed a $20 million lawsuit against the home builder and the construction contractor.
The wrongful death lawsuit claims that the victim died while performing a task that can be described as “impossible” because there was an “inherent” danger in carrying it out. Following the trench collapse, there were several rescue efforts that included as many as 150 people. They tried several ways and means to dig the victim out of the rubble but, unfortunately, the victim could not be saved.
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration had previously found that the victim’s employer had committed nine safety violations and had imposed a fine of $200,000. The victim’s mother, per the reports, is now a frequent speaker at safety industry conferences and Ohio construction firms and urges her listeners to remember what happened to her son and ensure that all employees are safe while working in trenches.
As seen in this case, the loss of a loved one in a fatal workplace accident brings about several changes in the lives of the family members, especially when the victim is young. It is understandable that a wrongful death claim can rarely compensate the loss of a loved one. However, the compensation can help to cope with the other challenges that the victim’s family encounters.